THE  PLOT  AGAINST 
MEXICO 


LA  OFRENDA 

By  Saturnine  Herran,  1887-1918 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST 
MEXICO 


BY 

L.  J.  DE  BEKKER 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

JOHN  FARWELL  MOORS 

Senior  Member,  Moors  &  Cabot,  Bankers 


NEW  YORK 

ALFRED  -  A  .  KNOPF 

1919 


COPYRIGHT,  1919,  BY 
L.  J.  DE  BEKKER 


PRINTED   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA 


£ 


>: 


DEDICATION 

This  book  is  dedicated  to  the  author's  colleagues  in  the 
Committee  on  Mexico  of  the  League  of  Free  Na- 
tions Association,  in  warm  appreciation  of 
their   efforts   to   prevent   an   armed 
intervention  in  Mexico: 


H.  A.  ATKINSON 
JOSEPH  P.  CHAMBERLAIN 
ROYAL  J.  DAVIS 
CARLTON  J.  H.  HAYES 
S.  G.  INMAN 
PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


PAUL  KENNADAY 

MRS.  EDITH  SHATTO  KING 

FREDERICK  LYNCH 

JOHN  F.  MOORS 

J.  W.  SLAUGHTER 

G.  B.  WINTON 


STANLEY  R.  YARNALL 

And 

JAMES  G.  MCDONALD, 

Chairman  of  the  Committee  and 

of  the  Association. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

This  is  a  fighting  book.  Its  purpose  is  to  ex- 
pose and  defeat  the  effort  of  a  handful  of  pluto- 
cratic Americans  to  involve  the  United  States  in 
war  with  Mexico  under  pretext  of  an  intervention, 
in  order  that  our  neighbour  to  the  south  may  be 
permanently  occupied,  and  that  they  may  be  free 
to  exploit  the  enormous  natural  wealth  of  the 
Mexicans  in  petroleum,  minerals  and  agricultural 
lands,  to  their  own  exclusive  advantage. 

In  the  hope  of  preventing  publication  of  the 
series  of  articles  in  The  Nation  from  which  the 
book  takes  its  title,  a  lawyer  and  the  chief  press 
agent  of  the  interventionists  represented  to  the  edi- 
tor of  that  journal  that  "The  Plot  Against  Mexico" 
had  no  existence  in  fact,  being  the  product  of  the 
overheated  imagination  of  a  gentleman  whose  ar- 
tistic temperament  dimmed  his  appreciation  of 
facts.  They  meant  me,  but  they  really  hit  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

I  did  not  discover  or  invent  a  Plot  Against 
Mexico.  If  any  one  invented  it,  the  honour  must 
be  ascribed  to  Woodrow  Wilson.  The  following 
statement,  given  out  at  the  White  House,  and  never 
denied,  was  sent  out  from  Washington  March  25, 


THE  AUTHORS  PREFACE 


1916,  by  the  Associated  Press  and  published 
throughout  the  world: 

"Convinced  that  powerful  influences  are  at  work 
to  force  an  intervention  in  Mexico,  Administration 
officials  were  today  considering  just  what  steps 
shall  be  taken  to  bring  the  agitation  to  an  end.  .  .  . 
President  Wilson  is  said  to  be  determined  to  stop 
the  circulation  of  inflammatory  rumours,  and  to 
take  legal  steps  if  necessary." 

I  agree  with  Mr.  Wilson's  views  as  expressed  in 
his  address  to  Congress,  August  27,  1915,  when 
he  said: 

"We  shall  triumph  as  Mexico's  friends  sooner 
than  we  could  triumph  as  her  enemies,  and  how 
much  more  handsomely,  with  how  much  higher  and 
finer  satisfaction  of  conscience  and  of  honour!" 

And  he  was  right  beyond  a  doubt  in  believing  in 
1916  that  powerful  influences  were  at  work  to  force 
an  intervention  in  Mexico.  These  influences  are 
more  powerful  in  1919  than  they  were  in  1916. 
I  hold  no  brief  for  the  existing  Government  of 
Mexico,  nor  for  any  individual  or  corporation  hav- 
ing interests  there.  My  only  purpose  is  to  lay  the 
truth  before  the  great  body  of  American  citizens  in 
order  that  they  may  not  be  led  into  an  unjust  war 
by  a  few  score  of  greedy  capitalistic  adventurers. 

L.    J.    DE    B. 

New  York  City,  Oct.  15,  1919. 


CONTENTS 

SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO?     Introduction 

by  John  Farwell  Moors  1 

ONE:    THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO  21 
Two:    THREE    SOLUTIONS    FOR    OUR    MEXICAN 

PROBLEM  50 
THREE:    AN  INTERVIEW  WITH  PRESIDENT  CARRANZA    68 

FOUR:    A  PRESIDENTIAL  PROGRESS  82 

FIVE:    MEXICO'S  NEXT  PRESIDENT  97 

Six:    BY  SEA  TO  MEXICO  109 

SEVEN:    MEXICO  CITY  PROSPERS  116 

EIGHT:    JOURNALISM  PAST  AND  PRESENT  126 

NINE:    MEXICO'S  NATIONAL  SCHOOL  OF  ART  133 

TEN:    A  STUDY  IN  MELOMANIA  142 

ELEVEN:    BANDITS  AND  BOLSHEVIKI  147 

TWELVE:     Is  MEXICO  PRO-GERMAN?  156 

THIRTEEN:    THE  DEMON  AS  LICOR  DIVING  166 

FOURTEEN:    TRADE  AND  COMMERCIAL  CREDITS  174 

FIFTEEN:     FINANCE  AND  THE  BANKS  180 

SIXTEEN:    RAILWAYS  AND  NATIONALIZATION  190 

SEVENTEEN:     PETROLEUM  AND  POLITICS  202 

EIGHTEEN:    THE  OIL  MEN'S  VERSION  213 

NINETEEN:    MEXICO'S  FUTURE  BRIGHT  226 

APPENDICES 

I.    PRESIDENT  CARRANZA'S  MESSAGE  235 
II.    PROOF  OF  THE  PLOT;  BEING  A  POSTSCRIPT  BY 

THE  AUTHOR  273 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

LA  OFRENDA,  by  Saturnine  Herran,  1887-1918 

Frontispiece 

FACINGJ 
PAOK 

SELF  PORTRAITURE,  by  German  Gedovius,  professor 

in  the  Nacional  Academy  44 

ISABEL  DE  PORTUGAL,  by  Pelegrin  Clave,  1872-1890    70 
THE  VALLEY  OF  MEXICO,  by  Jose  M.  Velasco  94 

SAN  JERONIMO,  by  J.  Gutierrez  134 

OTHELLO,  by  Gonzales  Pineda  138 

THE  SENATE  OF  TLAXCALA,  by  Rodrigo  Gutierrez    178 
COURTYARD  OF  AN  OLD  HOUSE,  by  Jimenez  230 


> 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 
BY  JOHN  FARWELL  MOORS 

Senior  Member,  Moors  &  Cabot,  Bankers. 

Our  national  policy  or,  as  it  seemed  to  many 
people,  lack  of  policy  in  Mexico  was  assumed  in 
1916  to  be  altogether  indefensible.  ,It  was  this 
even  more  than  our  attitude  toward  the  European 
war  which  apparently  justified  Mr.  Hughes  in  leav- 
ing the  Supreme  Court  and  becoming  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency.  He  called  our  efforts,  such  as 
they  were,  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos  in  Mexico 
"a  confused  chapter  of  blunders."  He  also  said: 
"We  have  suffered  incalculably  from  the  weak  and 
vacillating  course  which  has  been  taken.  We 
utterly  failed  to  discharge  our  plain  duty  to  our  own 
citizens."  Now,  three  years  later,  this  is  more  than 
ever  the  settled  opinion  of  thousands  of  Americans, 
who  have  summed  up  our  Mexican  policy  derisively 
in  two  words:  "watchful  waiting."  These  thou- 
sands of  Americans  gave  little  heed  in  1916  to  the 
President's  insistance  that,  serious  as  was  our  con- 
cern for  our  own  citizens  in  Mexico,  we  owed  it  to 
the  Mexicans  themselves  not  to  interfere  unduly  in 
their  struggle  for  liberty  after  intolerable  suffering 

[i] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

under  the  fair  exterior  of  the  dictatorship  of  Por- 
firio  Diaz.  Today  Mexico  is  still  made  to  appear 
a  land  of  contending  bandits.  Dr.  Paul  Bernado 
Altendorf,  said  to  have  lived  in  Mexico  since  1914, 
sums  up  this  common  point  of  view  thus:  "Mexico 
is  nothing  more  than  an  agglomeration  of  anarchist 
gangs  who  kill  and  plunder  with  no  restraint  but 
their  own  caprices."  Similar  views  were  given  by 
Mr.  William  Gates  in  the  World's  Work  for  Feb- 
ruary, March,  April  and  May  of  this  year.  Senator 
Fall  of  New  Mexico  has  been  promulgating  them  for 
years.  Republican  Floor  Leader  Mondell,  Repre- 
sentative Hudspeth  from  Texas,  Representative 
Gould  from  New  York  have  done  their  best  to 
emphasize  them.  When  Mr.  Hudspeth  said: 
"The  time  has  come  when  this  Government  should 
say  to  Carranza:  'You  have  not  fulfilled  your 
obligations  in  the  protection  of  American  lives,  so 
we  withdraw  recognition  of  you  and  will  put  troops 
in  Mexico  to  protect  American  lives  till  order  is 
restored,'  "  Congress  applauded. 

On  the  other  hand,  on  February  6  last,  our 
Ambassador  to  Mexico,  Mr.  Henry  P.  Fletcher 
stated  publicly:  "President  Carranza  has  accom- 
plished great  work  in  preparing  for  development 
and  reconstruction,  and  in  reorganizing  the  public 
service,  and  has  made  such  headway  that  the  various 
bandit  leaders  are  now  without  real  influence  and 
are  operating  in  small  bands.  Carranza  is  the  real 

[2] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

power  in  Mexico."  On  January  7  the  Boston  News 
Bureau  quoted  L.  H.  Coley,  manager  in  Mexico  for 
the  Ingersoll-Rand  Corporation,  as  follows: 
"There  is  some  interference  from  lawless  elements 
in  the  Western  districts,  but  not  nearly  so  bad  as 
for  the  last  few  years.  Nearly  all  the  mines  are 
being  worked,  especially  those  owned  by  large  for- 
eign corporations."  On  February  21,  Mr.  Elmer 
R.  Jones,  president  of  Wells  Fargo  and  Co.  in 
Mexico,  which  formerly  operated  on  14,000  miles 
of  Mexican  railroads,  gave  an  equally  optimistic 
view  after  a  two  and  a  half  months'  trip  through 
Mexico.  In  April,  Mr.  B.  Preston  Clark,  highly 
respected  in  this  city,  speaking  of  the  U.  S.  Smelt- 
ing, Refining  and  Mining  Co.,  made  the  following 
impressive  statement  to  the  Episcopal  Church  Con- 
gress in  New  York: 

"It  has  been  my  privilege  to  be  connected  with 
a  mining  company  operating  in  Mexico.  About 
ten  years  ago  we  went  there.  We  have  tried  to 
treat  the  Mexicans  as  human  beings.  We  told 
them  that  we  did  not  believe  the  current  legend 
than  no  Mexican  was  worth  more  than  two  pesos 
a  day,  that  with  us,  if  a  man  did  the  work,  he 
would  fare  just  the  same,  whether  he  was  American 
or  Mexican,  that  in  all  ways  we  should  respect 
them  and  their  wives  and  families  as  we  would 
our  own.  We  went  to  it  as  a  human  proposition. 
The  effect  was  prodigious. 

[3] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

"This  attitude  brought  out  the  best  there  was 
in  those  people  and  the  best  there  was  in  us.  For 
eight  and  a  half  years  of  revolution,  under  those 
Southern  stars,  the  roar  of  our  mills  has  never 
stopped.  Today  7,000  men  operate  them,  of  whom 
57  only  are  Americans  (less  than  1%). 

"Mexicans  hold  important  positions  all  along 
the  line.  I  could  spend  an  evening  telling  you 
that  story.  How  we  have  fed  them,  fought  typhus 
and  influenza  with  them,  and  how  they  have  done 
their  part  like  men.  Two  things  I  must  say. 
After  Vera  Cruz  we  insisted  that  all  our  Americans 
leave  Mexico.  The  properties  were  left  in  abso- 
lute charge  of  Mexicans  for  eight  months.  They 
stole  nothing;  they  allowed  no  one  else  to  steal 
anything;  they  operated  the  plants  successfully, 
and  returned  them  to  us  in  as  good  condition  as 
when  our  Americans  came  out. 

"On  another  occasion  $250,000  in  bullion  was 
stolen  from  the  company.  Our  6,000  miners  of 
their  own  motion,  when  they  heard  of  this,  saw  to 
it  that  that  bullion  was  returned  within  24  hours, 
and  within  48  hours  it  was  on  a  Ward  liner  bound 
for  Liverpool.  Do  you  wonder  that  I  trust  them?" 

On  May  4  an  editorial,  a  column  long,  in  the 
New  York  Times,  entitled  "A  Visit  to  Mexico," 
said:  "Darkest  Mexico  was  penetrated  on  March 
29  from  Laredo  by  a  train  of  Pullman  cars  carry- 
ing fifty  members  of  the  San  Antonio  Chamber  of 

[4] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

Commerce  and  bound  for  the  principal  cities  of 
the  country  so  long  ravaged  by  revolutionary  bands. 
When  the  San  Antonians  returned  to  American  soil, 
Mexico  was  no  longer  dark  to  them.  It  was  not  a 
disturbed  and  distressed  country  as  they  saw  it. 
The  visiting  merchants  had  a  halcyon  time,  travel- 
ling 3,000  miles  and  enjoying  all  the  comforts  of 
home.  The  impression  that  Mexico  had  been  dev- 
astated by  revolution  the  Americans  found  to  be 
a  grotesque  exaggeration." 

Production,  exports  and  the  earnings  of  foreign 
companies  with  property  in  Mexico  all  tend  to  con- 
firm these  many  reports  of  comparatively  stable 
conditions  there  and  of  a  more  and  more  successful 
outcome  of  the  Revolution. 

How  is  it  then  that  in  the  general  news  columns 
conditions  in  Mexico  are  now  almost  daily  painted 
as  direful? 

A  clue  to  the  mystery  may  perhaps  be  found  in 
the  potential  riches  of  Mexico,  particularly  in  the 
expanding  production  of  oil.  Mexico  is  said  to  be 
capable  of  producing  50%  of  the  whole  oil  supply 
of  the  world  and  oil  is  said  to  be  the  world's  most 
valuable  product.  The  Carranza  Government  has 
sought  by  law  to  secure  ownership,  not  only  of  all 
future  sub-soil  rights  but  until  recently  of  retro- 
active rights.  Last  October,  Mr.  Frederick  R. 
Kellogg,  general  counsel  for  the  Mexican  Petroleum 
Co.,  stated  very  clearly  (New  York  Nation,  Oct.  5, 

[5] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

1918)  the  foreign  companies'  side  of  the  case. 
"The  oil  companies,"  said  he,  "have  opposed,  and 
will  oppose  to  the  end,  the  attacks  to  which  they  are 
being  subjected."  The  stock  market  showed  its 
confidence  in  such  opposition,  for  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Kellogg's  pessimistic  article,  Mexican  Petroleum 
stock  was  almost  doubling  in  market  value. 

On  January  21,  1919,  a  financial  news  sheet  an- 
nounced modestly  the  formation  of  the  "National 
Association  for  the  Protection  of  American  Rights 
in  Mexico."  The  leading  interests  in  this  Associa- 
tion were  then  reported  to  be  the  Rockefeller  Cos., 
American  Smelting  and  Refining  Co.,  Anaconda 
Co.,  and  Mexican  Petroleum  Co.  This  association 
is  now  said  to  have  a  press  bureau  in  most  com- 
petent hands  at  347  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  and 
others  elsewhere.  Its  name  appears  with  great 
frequency  in  the  press,  notably  in  connection  with 
the  attacks  in  Mexico  on  unknown  American 
citizens,  in  whom  it  purports  to  take  a  deep  interest. 
The  large  corporations  which  organized  it  are 
usually  no  longer  mentioned,  but  the  bureau  chief 
has  testified  that  he  receives  a  salary  of  $20,000. 

On  February  23  announcement  was  made  by  one 
of  the  leading  banking  houses  in  New  York  of  the 
formation  of  an  international  committee  of  twenty 
bankers,  ten  from  the  United  States  and  five  each 
from  England  and  France  "for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
tecting the  holders  of  securities  of  the  Mexican  Re- 

[6] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

public,"  etc.,  "with  a  view  to  such  positive  action 
as  may  be  taken  whenever  circumstances  permit." 

Since  then  the  dark  pictures  of  Mexico  have 
grown  in  number  till  now  they  appear  almost  daily. 

An  extraordinary  broadside  appeared  giving  the 
prophetic  news  that  there  would  be  a  revolution  in 
Mexico  in  June.  Other  extraordinary  broadsides 
followed  featuring  Felix  Diaz,  who,  with  a  redoubt- 
able general,  named  Blanquet,  has  assembled,  as 
it  were  over  night,  an  army  of  40,000  men  and  was 
marching  on  Mexico  City.  This  movement,  what- 
ever it  was  in  reality,  collapsed;  Blanquet  was 
killed;  Diaz  became  a  fugitive. 

Next,  Zapata  was  made  to  appear  the  hopeful 
patriot  of  Mexico.  But  on  March  15  he  was  said 
to  be  fleeing  to  the  mountains  and  on  April  11  he, 
too,  was  reported  killed. 

In  May  a  triumphant  march  by  Villa  through 
Chihuahua  had  the  front  pages.  He  captured 
Parral;  he  advanced  on  Juarez;  he  had  become 
miraculously  transformed  not  only  in  strength  but 
character.  The  New  York  Sun  suddenly  ab- 
solved him  from  responsibility  for  the  Columbus 
massacre.  The  Washington  correspondent  of  the 
Boston  Evening  Transcript,  whose  earlier  castiga- 
tions  of  Villa  would  fill  a  volume,  had  on  May  3 
over  a  column  extolling  him.  Villa  had  been 
"grossly  misrepresented,"  his  military  operations 
were  being  conducted  "regularly  and  under  a  well- 

[7] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

devised  plan  and  not  according  to  the  methods  of 
the  banditti";  Gen.  Angeles,  Villa's  "Provisional 
President  of  Mexico,"  was  "chief  of  staff  and  one 
of  the  best  soldiers  in  Mexico";  his  sentries 
throughout  Parral  were  "a  guaranty  of  life,  liberty 
and  property";  he  "requisitioned"  $50,000  from 
Spanish  residents,  "not  for  the  equipment  of  his 
army,  but  for  ameliorating  conditions  in  Parral"; 
he  was  no  longer  the  "drunken  Villa"  but  was  re- 
garded by  "his  American  friends"  (whoever  they 
were)  as  "one  of  the  most  uncompromising  pro- 
hibitionists on  the  continent";  he  "does  not  even 
smoke."  The  lower  classes  under  rebel  control 
were  "more  prosperous  and  contented  than  ever 
before."  The  article  ends  prophetically  thus: 
"Villa  is  only  one  of  several  other  local  chieftains 
who  stand  ready  to  make  serious  trouble  for  the 
Carranza  Government,  when  the  time  comes." 

Villa,  however,  when  he  reached  Juarez,  was 
driven  by  United  States  troops  perpendicularly 
d9wn  to  his  former  level  of  unspeakable  bandit. 
The  Provisional  President  of  Mexico  disappeared. 
When  June  came  there  were  left  only  the  wrecks 
of  three  well-advertised  revolutions  and  consider- 
able mortality.  The  Carranza  Government  seemed 
to  be  more  firmly  established  than  at  any  previous 
time. 

With  the  collapse  of  the  revolutions  extraor- 
dinary publicity  was  suddenly  given  to  outrages 

[8] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

on  American  citizens  in  Mexico.  On  July  8  the 
National  Association  for  the  Protection  of  Ameri- 
can Rights  in  Mexico  itself  announced  that  the 
Executive  Committee  had  decided  "to  use  its  utmost 
endeavours"  to  make  these  outrages  "an  interna- 
tional issue."  The  next  day  the  New  York  Times9 
on  "unusually  well  informed  authority,"  told  us 
that  President  Wilson  would  soon  appear  before 
Congress  "and  make  an  address  on  the  Mexican 
problem,  dealing  with  the  matter  along  the  lines 
of  the  McKinley  message  to  Congress,  which  led  to 
intervention  with  Cuba."  On  July  20  the  overt  act 
needed  for  intervention  seemed  almost,  if  not  quite, 
to  have  taken  place.  "Outrage  on  American 
Sailors"  said  great  headlines.  "This  is  one  of  the 
gravest  of  the  many  grave  incidents  which  have  been 
staged  in  Mexico  within  recent  months,"  said  Act- 
ing Secretary  of  State  Phillips.  "Every  sensible 
American  knows  the  course  we  should  adopt  to 
stop  these  outrages.  We  ought  to  kill  about  2,000 
Mexicans,"  said  Senator  Ashurst  of  Arizona. 
Senator  Fall  was  described  as  "one  who  gave  free 
expression  to  his  feelings."  The  losses,  when 
officially  reported,  proved,  however,  to  be  only  a 
watch,  a  pair  of  shoes  and  "some  money";  the 
sailors  had  gone,  contrary  to  orders,  into  bandit 
country;  and  the  Mexican  authorities  were  said  to 
be  most  friendly  and  zealous  to  capture  the  wrong- 
doers. That  indiscreet  barometer  of  Wall  Street 

[9] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

sentiment,  Mexican  Petroleum  stock,  had  risen  on 
what  was  called  the  "tension"  caused  by  this  in- 
cident. 

In  July  the  Committee  on  Rules  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  proceeded  With  the  agitation. 
Ambassador  Fletcher,  the  first  witness,  continued 
to  speak  well  of  the  Carranza  Government  and  said 
that  Carranza's  authority  was  now  fairly  well 
established  over  most  of  Mexico.  He  stated  that 
he  had  records  of  217  Americans  killed  in  Mexico 
in  eight  years.  "391,"  the  National  Association 
for  the  Protection  of  American  Rights  in  Mexico 
was  quick  to  assert. 

The  principal  other  witness  before  the  Committee 
was  William  Gates,  author  of  the  articles  last  spring 
in  the  World's  Work,  who  interested  the  Committee 
so  much  that  it  called  him  back  for  more  testimony. 
Gates  was  described  as  an  "archaeologist."  The 
New  York  Sun  said  he  came  from  Baltimore,  the 
World  and  the  Tribune  that  he  came  from  Cali- 
fornia, the  Times  that  he  came  from  Cleveland. 
Gates  testified  that  most  of  the  bandits  were  Car- 
ranza men,  and  that  most  Mexicans  would  say,  if 
they  should  hear  of  financial  and  possible  military 
assistance  against  Carranza:  "Thank  God,  you 
have  redeemed  belief  in  America." 

Then,  however,  there  was  another  collapse. 
David  Lawrence  pointed  out  in  the  New  York 
Evening  Post  that  Gates  had  written  to  H.  L.  Hall, 

[10] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

Santa  Monica,  California,  letters  showing  himself 
to  be  a  "bridge"  between  the  various  rebel  elements 
in  Mexico,  to  have  had  Zapata's  credentials  as 
persona  grata  with  all  the  revolutionaries,  and  to 
have  had  letters  from  Felix  Diaz  showing  him  "one 
of  us."  One  letter  says:  "I  write  you  this,  as  you 
represent  Zapata,  am  now  awaiting  the  return  of  the 
people  from  Paris,  for  things  to  climax.  When 
they  do  I  am  ready.  I  hope  we  shall  succeed." 
He  cautiously  added:  "Of  what  is  actually  going 
on  of  real  moment  it  is  impossible  to  write  as  you 
can  judge."  Gates  has  publicly  admitted  these 
letters,  but  denies  their  obvious  implication. 

The  appeals  for  justice  from  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment have  been  given  scanty  heed  by  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  On  February  26,  three  days 
after  the  formation  of  the  committee  of  twenty 
bankers,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment registered  a  caveat.  Said  he  :  "If  the  new 
committee  considers  that  the  situation  in  Mexico  is 
not  as  it  was  ten  years  ago,  we  can  expect  good  re- 
sults. But  if  the  same  error  is  made  as  by  many 
who  are  interested  in  our  affairs  who  wish  Mexico 
to  return  to  the  basis  of  ten  years  ago,  we  can  only 
expect  the  creation  of  new  difficulties." 

On  July  26  the  Mexican  Ambassador  at  Washing- 
ton addressed  the  people  of  the  United  States  telling 
of  the  comparatively  stable  government  now  in 
Mexico.  He  compared  the  outrages  there  with 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

those  here  after  our  Civil  War.  He  stated  that 
Mexico  was  paying  two-thirds  of  its  income  to  chase 
bandits.  He  pointed  to  the  balance  sheets  of  the 
big  companies  operating  in  Mexico  as  evidence  of 
their  prosperity. 

On  August  2  President  Carranza  said:  "The 
petroleum  companies  have  set  out  to  engender  ill- 
feeling  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States. 
They  are  doing  this  through  the  medium  of  some 
sections  of  the  American  press  which  are  distorting 
facts  to  suit  their  own  ends.  Mexico  is  not  opposed 
to  the  petroleum  companies  or  to  any  other  foreign 
investors.  We  merely  require  that,  if  such  com- 
panies are  to  operate  in  the  Republic,  they  abide  by 
our  laws." 

From  Mexico  has  come  the  charge  that  Senator 
Fall  was  behind  a  letter  from  Col.  Charles  F.  Hunt 
to  Villa,  offering  Villa  a  visit  from  Senator  Fall  and 
others,  for  the  purpose  of  helping  to  push  the  cam- 
paign against  the  Mexican  Government.  Senator 
Fall  replied:  "Liars,  of  course,  as  usual."  But  he 
admitted  that  he  had  sent  the  State  Department 
copies  of  the  Hunt- Villa  correspondence. 

Warnings  have  come  also  from  American 
sources.  On  March  17  the  correspondent  in 
Mexico  City  of  the  New  York  World  wrote:  "A 
campaign  instigated  chiefly  by  petroleum  interests 
is  afoot  to  force  the  next  Republican  Congress  to 
intervene  in  Mexico."  Early  in  April  the  New 

[12] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

York  Nation  said:  "There  is  reason  to  believe  that 
efforts  of  serious  proportions  are  being  made  to 
bring  about  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico.  Bit  by  bit  the  propaganda  is  being  spread 
with  ostensible  fortuitousness.  Leading  Canadian 
and  American  oil  men  go  to  Paris.  In  Paris  these 
gentlemen  meet  with  the  other  oil  groups.  The 
British  Government  has  taken  over  large  oil  in- 
terests and  is  going  into  the  business.  Gen.  Blan- 
quet  suddenly  lands  in  Mexico  and  carefully  pre- 
pared statements  of  his  enterprise  are  issued  in 
New  York.  A  drive  is  on  and  the  story  of  it  is 
written  plainly  in  the  Blanquet  propaganda. 
President  Carranza  is  to  be  labelled  pro-German 
and  his  regime  is  to  fall  into  the  category  of  Bol- 
shevism." This  point  of  view  is  now  being  in- 
stilled into  us.  With  the  collapse  of  the  revolutions 
and  of  the  Gates  testimony,  there  is  being  placed 
under  our  eyes  propaganda  calculated  to  inflame 
our  minds  against  Carranza  by  imputing  to  him  pro- 
German  activities  against  this  country.  Dr.  Alten- 
dorf,  already  mentioned,  who  claims  to  have 
worked  in  Mexico  under  the  guise  of  a  "loyal  Ger- 
man," is  now  making  these  charges. 

On  July  6  the  Christian  Science  Monitor  quoted 
John  R.  Phillips,  who  it  says  "has  investigated  and 
is  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  whole  problem" : — 
"This  recrudescence  of  the  propaganda  was  all 
timed  to  go  off  in  conjunction  with  the  activities  of 

[13] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

various  revolutionary  leaders  in  Mexico.  But 
these  leaders,  sent  down  there  and  financed  by 
American  interventionists,  were  disposed  of  by  the 
Mexican  Government  forces.  Villa's  and  Angeles' 
elaborately  staged  and  widely  heralded  operations 
were  abortive.  Blanquet  and  Zapata  were  killed. 
All  of  this  left  the  propaganda  which  was  to  syn- 
chronize on  the  American  side  with  these  bandits, 
high  and  dry,  without  excuse  for  its  existence.  But 
as  the  propaganda  organs  were  ready  for  function- 
ing, they  were  allowed  to  go  on  with  their  work  of 
pouring  their  poison  into  the  American  press  in  a 
last  desperate  effort  to  accomplish  their  purpose." 
More  recently,  Mr.  L.  J.  de  Bekker,  a  correspon- 
dent sent  to  Mexico  by  the  New  York  Tribune  to 
"write  the  truth  about  the  situation,"  has  given 
first-hand  information.  Mr.  de  Bekker  was  in 
Mexico  during  February,  March  and  April,  1919. 
He  found  "peace  and  prosperity"  in  the  greater 
part  of  Mexico,  controlled  by  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment, but  "devastation  and  anarchy"  in  the  oil 
region,  where  one  Pelaez,  "King  of  the  oil  fields," 
a  bandit,  employed  by  the  oil  producers,  was  in 
their  interest  forcibly  defying  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment. The  Tribune  did  not  publish  his  views. 
When  published  elsewhere,  these  views  drew  on 
July  26  a  reply  from  a  body  calling  itself  "The 
Association  of  Oil  Producers  in  Mexico"  and  writ- 

[14] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

ing  from  New  York.  In  this  reply  the  Association 
practically  admits  the  forcible  defiance  of  the 
Mexican  Government  by  the  foreign  oil  producers, 
for  it  says:  "  '  King'  Pelaez's  troops  are  operating 
in  the  oil  fields  only,  far  from  any  railroad,  for  the 
reason  that  the  Government  is  attempting  to  con- 
fiscate their  oil  values."  The  reply  insists  that  the 
companies  are  not  "voluntarily"  assisting  Pelaez 
against  Carranza,  and  that  Pelaez  is  in  effect  a 
blackmailer  who  would  destroy  the  oil  wells  if 
tribute  were  not  paid  him.  Congressman  La 
Guardia,  though  decrying  the  purposes  of  the 
Carranza  Government,  has  confirmed  in  the  follow- 
ing statement,  the  open  warfare  against  that  govern- 
ment waged  by  Pelaez  in  return  for  the  tribute 
paid  him  by  the  oil  companies :  "The  Pelaez  faction 
is  the  best  equipped,  best  uniformed  army  of  all  the 
factions.  It  is  about  5,000  armed  men  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  Pelaez.  These  forces  protect 
the  oil  industries  from  being  robbed  by  the  Car- 
ranza faction.  It  is  supported  and  paid  for  by  the 
oil  companies.  I  understand  that  the  pay  is  some- 
thing like  $180,000  a  month,  and  that  several 
million  dollars  already  have  been  paid  to  Pelaez 
for  necessary  protection." 

Should  we  like  it  if  the  foreign  owners  of  some 
of  our  factories  should  employ  gunmen  to  kill  our 
officials  in  the  enforcement  of  our  income  tax  law? 

[15] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Is  not  the  Pelaez  situation  far  more  exasperating 
and  ominous  for  Mexico  than  even  this  suppositi- 
tious case  would  be  for  us? 

So  far  the  United  States  has  not  intervened, 
except  to  drive  off  Villa  and  to  chase  (vainly)  the 
bandits  who  recently  captured  two  American 
aviators.  But  Senator  Lodge  has  appointed  a 
Senate  investigating  committee  which  consists  of 
Senator  Fall,  chairman;  Senator  Smith  of  Arizona, 
said  to  be  the  "conspicuous  chum"  of  Fall,  and  the 
colleague  of  Ashurst,  quoted  above,  and  Senator 
Brandegee  of  Connecticut,  whose  point  of  view  is 
typified  by  his  comment  on  a  recent  article  by  ex- 
President  Taft:  "I  never  pay  any  attention  to  the 
froth  he  emits.  Every  time  you  throw  a  cake  of 
soap  into  him,  he  emits  whatever  froth  President 
Wilson  wants  him  to."  A  committee  could  not 
have  been  appointed  more  predisposed  to  find  for 
intervention. 

The  situation  is  further  complicated  by  the  fact 
that  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine  are  involved  obligations 
as  well  as  privileges.  England  and  France  have 
enormous  interests  in  Mexico.  As  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  precludes  them  from  themselves  protecting 
those  interests  by  force,  they  may  be  expected  to 
turn  to  us  to  see  that  their  interests  and  those  of 
their  citizens  in  Mexico  do  not  suffer.  We  are 
their  friends  and  want  to  remain  their  friends. 
"Watchful  waiting"  may  seem  as  inexplicable  to 

[16] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

them  now  as  it  seemed  to  Mr.  Hughes  in  1916,  and 
as  it  has  long  seemed  to  all  Jingoes. 

Let  us  not,  however,  deceive  ourselves.  "Prop- 
aganda" means  the  artificial  dissemination  of 
news  calculated  to  produce  a  state  of  public  opinion 
desired  by  those  who  disseminate  the  news.  "In- 
tervention" in  the  case  of  a  strong  nation,  dealing 
with  a  weak  one,  is  a  euphemism  for  war.  The 
phrase  to  "clean  up"  Mexico  similarly  means  war 
upon  her.  Nine  men  in  ten  in  the  financial  dis- 
tricts assume  today  that  we  should  go  to  war  with 
Mexico.  They  are  doubtless  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  in  1848  the  United  States  signed  a  treaty  with 
Mexico  agreeing  to  arbitrate  all  differences  before 
going  to  war.  No  American  should  tolerate  mak- 
ing this  treaty  a  "scrap  of  paper." 

On  December  4  last,  a  typical  item  in  a  financial 
column  said:  "The  outlook  for  companies  operat- 
ing in  Mexico  is  believed  to  be  brighter  than  it  has 
been  for  a  long  time.  The  great  expansion  in  the 
American  army  undoubtedly  will  exert  a  salutary 
effect  on  the  obnoxious  elements  in  the  Southern 
Republic."  With  equal  candour,  on  July  15  a  cor- 
respondent of  the  New  York  Times  in  Coblenz 
wrote  that  the  American  army  was  drawing  up 
plans  for  a  Mexican  campaign.  "The  military 
machine,"  said  he,  "has  begun  to  do  what  the 
armies  of  European  nations  have  long  done,  that  is, 
draft  plans  of  campaign  against  neighbour  nations." 

[17] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

This  time  our  army  was  to  fight  "with  the  most 
modern  weapons"  with  "the  1919  stamp  upon 
them." 

Intervention  thus  conceived  is  not  merely  war, 
but  aggressive  war  on  the  old  and,  we  had  assumed, 
discredited  European  basis,  the  war  of  a  great  na- 
tion on  a  little  one. 

There  is  food  for  thought  at  such  a  time  in  the 
views  of  labour. 

The  proceedings  in  New  York,  July  10,  of  the 
Pan-American  Federation  of  Labour,  have  the  fol- 
lowing entry:  A  resolution  introduced  by  Louis 
N.  Morones,  representing  the  Mexican  Federation 
of  Labour,  was  adopted,  deploring  "the  campaign 
that  for  some  time  has  been  carried  on  to  provoke 
an  armed  conflict  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico"  and  urging  peaceful  settlement  of  all  dif- 
ficulties. Similarly,  Samuel  Gompers,  has  said  in 
an  interview:  "To  my  mind,  it  would  be  the  gravest 
wrong  which  could  be  inflicted  upon  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  as  well  as  upon  the  people  of 
Mexico,  if  the  Jingo  spirit  which  now  seems  to  be 
in  the  course  of  manufacture  should  drive  us  into 
anything  like  a  conflict  with  the  people  of  Mexico. 
The  President,  with  his  associates,  has  negotiated 
a  treaty  of  peace  and  in  it  established  the  covenant 
for  the  League  of  Nations.  One  of  the  highest 
purposes  is  die  settlement  of  international  disputes 

[18] 


SHALL  WE  INTERVENE  IN  MEXICO? 

by  peaceful  means,  and  we  cannot  consistently  ad- 
vocate such  high  principles  in  our  dealings  with  the 
European  nations  as  provided  in  the  covenant  and 
then  rush  into  an  armed  conflict  with  Mexico." 

Will  not  a  righteous  cry  go  up  from  labour  that 
it  is  a  capitalist's  war,  if  we  now  intervene  in 
Mexico?  Will  not  another  righteous  cry  go  up 
from  our  new  friends  in  the  ABC  countries  that 
we  have  justified  their  former  suspicions  of  us? 
Will  not  the  whole  world  cynically  compare  our 
professions  with  our  practice,  and  look  upon  us,  not 
as  leaders  toward  new  and  better  international 
ideals,  but  as  the  nation  which  failed  the  world  at 
the  first  test? 

The  politicians  and  the  oil  producers  can  easily 
persuade  themselves  that  intervention  will  increase 
the  production  of  supplies  which  the  world  needs. 
They  can  strike  a  responsive  chord  when  they  urge 
us  to  suppress  outrages  in  Mexico,  even  though  the 
outrages  there  may  not  be  more  reprehensible  than 
they  are  here.  Let  us  indeed  agree  with  them  that 
in  Mexico,  as  elsewhere,  we  should  seek  to  have 
justice  done  our  interests  and  all  reasonable  pro- 
tection granted  our  citizens.  But  where  in  all 
history  will  there  be  folly  like  unto  our  folly,  in- 
famy like  unto  our  infamy,  if  the  propaganda,  to 
which  we  are  wanted  to  give  heed,  should  prove  to 
be  the  bearing  of  false  witness  against  a  helpless 

[19] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

neighbour,  trying  to  struggle  to  her  feet,  and  should 
deafen  our  ears  to  her  appeals  for  mercy,  and 
should  lead  us  to  sharpen  our  knives  "with  the  1919 
stamp  upon  them"  and  attack  her  and  ravage  her 
lands  and  take  to  ourselves  her  riches? 


[20J 


CHAPTER  ONE:    THE  PLOT  AGAINST 
MEXICO 

Is  there  a  plot  against  Mexico?  I  believe  that 
there  is,  and  that  it  involves  several  high  officials 
of  the  United  States  Government;  that  its  object  is 
armed  intervention  in  Mexico,  on  some  pacific  pre- 
text, the  real  purpose  being  permanent  military  oc- 
cupation of  the  country,  so  that  its  internal  affairs 
may  be  administered  in  accordance  with  the  in- 
terests of  the  conspirators. 

I  believe  that  the  originators  of  the  plot  are 
American  oil  men  now  operating  in  Mexican  ter- 
ritory, or  else  greedy  for  an  opportunity  to  begin 
operations  there  upon  terms  of  their  own  dictation. 
I  am  aware  that  there  exists  a  formidable  publicity 
bureau  created  to  poison  the  minds  of  the  American 
people  against  Mexico,  and  that  the  publication  of 
the  truth  regarding  that  unfortunate  country  will 
result  in  the  publisher's  being  deluged  with  letters 
of  denial,  of  protest,  of  personal  vilification  and 
abuse. 

Proof  is  difficult — unless  undertaken  by  an 
official  commission  empowered  to  compel  evidence 
— and  the  evidence  is  largely  circumstantial.  But 
there  is  enough  to  justify  such  an  inquiry,  if  only  as 

[21] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

a  means  of  preventing  a  war  of  invasion.  (Senator 
Lodge's  appointment  of  the  most  notorious  enemy 
Mexico  has  to  head  an  "investigation"  of  Mexican 
affairs  was  the  response  to  this  suggestion.) 

American  and  British  oil  interests  in  Mexico  are 
centred  in  Tampico,  in  the  State  of  Tamaulipas,  but 
extend  south  along  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  Tuxpan,  in  the  State  of  Vera  Cruz.  Seeing  only 
Tampico,  the  visitor  to  Mexico  would  be  impressed 
by  the  extent  to  which  American  influence  has 
grown.  This  ancient  Mexican  port  has  developed 
into  a  second-rate  Key  West.  It  contains  some  tall 
buildings,  and  the  only  hotel  in  Mexico  of  the  many 
in  which  I  sojourned  where  the  "scarlet  creeper" 
is  cultivated.  Seeing  only  Tamaulipas,  he  would 
be  convinced  that  the  chief  products  of  Mexico  were 
oil  and  bandits,  and  would  have  registered  the 
superficial  impressions  by  no  means  uncommon 
among  certain  classes  of  commercial  tourists.  But 
having  overlooked  the  cities  of  the  Central  Plateau, 
he  would  be  ignorant  of  the  real  Mexico,  and  unable 
to  contrast  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  country, 
where  the  rule  of  the  Constitutionalist  authorities 
is  supreme,  with  the  devastation  and  anarchy 
wrought  by  bandits  in  the  districts  policed  by 
"General"  Pelaez  on  behalf  of  the  oil  men.  In  this 
land  of  contrasts  Tampico  is  and  always  has  been 
loyal  to  the  Government  established  in  Mexico  City, 
and  so  are  and  have  been  the  greater  part  of  the 

[22] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

political  districts  of  Tamaulipas.  The  State  Gov- 
ernment has  its  seat  at  Ciudad  Victoria,  a  town  some 
distance  from  the  port,  and  the  governor,  Dr. 
Osuna,  who  was  at  one  time  a  Presbyterian  mis- 
sionary, possesses  as  complete  an  administrative 
organization  as  can  be  found  elsewhere;  but  no- 
where else  in  Mexico  outside  Villa  territory  is  there 
such  chaos  as  in  parts  of  Tamaulipas. 

A  topographical  map  would  go  far  toward  ex- 
plaining these  contradictory  conditions.  In  Ta- 
maulipas as  in  Vera  Cruz  the  descent  from  the  cool 
country  of  the  Central  Plateau  to  the  t ierra  caliente, 
or  hot  land  of  the  sea-coast,  can  be  accomplished  in 
a  single  day.  A  chain  of  mountains  blocks  access 
from  the  interior  to  the  coast,  and  to  the  average 
traveller  there  are  but  two  routes  open  to  Tampico, 
one  from  San  Luis  Potosi,  the  other  from  Monterey, 
which  lies  to  the  north  of  the  former  city — both 
cities  on  the  direct  line  of  traffic  between  Laredo 
and  Mexico  City.  Other  routes  available  for  horse- 
men and  pedestrians  are  known  to  the  natives, 
whether  bandits  or  pacificos,  but  have  no  com- 
mercial importance.  Choosing  the  southern  route 
because  it  was  closer  to  Mexico  City,  I  left  San  Luis 
Potosi  at  6:30  A.  M.,  bound  for  the  oil  fields.  On 
the  Vera  Cruz  line  to  the  capital,  and  throughout 
the  network  of  roads  I  had  traversed  in  Central 
Mexico,  Pullman  cars  were  in  use,  and  travel  was 
in  all  respects  as  comfortable  as  in  the  United 

[23] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

States;  perhaps  more  so,  in  our  days  of  congestion 
and  Government  control;  certainly  more  agreeable 
than  my  rail  journey  from  New  York  to  Key  West 
a  few  weeks  earlier. 

There  were  no  Pullmans  on  the  roads  leading  to 
Tampico.  Pullman  cars  are  expensive  things, 
difficult  to  replace,  even  in  these  days  of  reconstruc- 
tion, and  "King"  Pelaez  of  the  oil  fields  considers 
it  a  patriotic  duty  to  blow  up  any  rolling  stock  be- 
longing to  the  Constitutionalist  Government,  re- 
gardless of  injury  to  the  passengers,  who  are 
robbed,  if  still  alive  after  the  destruction  of  their 
train,  and  may  enjoy  the  felicity  of  seeing  whatever 
of  their  belongings  the  bandits  have  discarded 
burned  while  they  await  the  means  of  returning  to 
civilization. 

In  the  most  dangerous  places  on  this  dangerous 
journey,  one  of  Mr.  Carranza's  soldiers  found  the 
cowcatcher  a  seat  of  honour  from  which  to  scan  the 
tracks  ahead  for  evidence  of  dynamite.  His  life 
and  ours  depended  upon  the  accuracy  of  his  vision. 
Two  soldiers,  swinging  out  from  either  side  of  the 
engine-tender,  watched  for  broken  rails,  open 
switches,  wrecked  culverts,  or  other  proof  of  a 
recent  visit  from  the  Pelaez  following.  And 
whether  danger  was  apparent  or  not,  one  soldier 
stood,  carbine  in  hand,  on  top  of  a  baggage  car 
which  contained  half  a  dozen  of  his  fellows,  ready 
to  reply  to  fire  from  ambush,  or  take  a  pot  shot  at 

[24] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

any  bandit  rolling  rocks  down  upon  us  from  the 
steep  mountain  side. 

The  beginning  of  the  danger  zone  was  marked 
in  a  most  extraordinary  way.  Certain  bandits  who 
ventured  from  the  hot  lands  or  mountain  fastnesses, 
where  they  can  hide  more  easily  than  upon  the 
open  plain,  had  been  captured  and  hanged  to  the 
telegraph  poles.  The  bodies,  when  we  saw  them, 
appeared  to  have  been  mummified  in  the  dry  pure 
air,  and  swung  to  and  fro  in  the  breeze  in  a  state  of 
perfect  preservation — except  as  to  clothes. 
Neither  I  nor  the  good  lady  who  looks  after  me  is 
bloodthirsty,  but  we  had  heard  so  much  of  the 
frightful  crimes  committed  by  these  Mexican 
bandits  who  style  themselves  patriots,  revolutionists, 
and  sometimes  Villistas,  that  I  confess  we  tried,  not 
without  success  and  a  certain  grim  satisfaction,  to 
photograph  five  of  these  cadavers. 

As  we  ran  into  the  hill  country,  valleys  of  wonder- 
ful beauty  and  fertility  opened  before  us,  and  de- 
spite unsettled  conditions  shown  by  ruined  villages 
and  churches  and  the  grouping  of  thatched  huts  as 
close  as  possible  to  the  tracks,  we  saw  that  planting 
had  been  resumed  in  many  places.  The  mountains 
did  not  lift  their  heads  into  the  region  of  perpetual 
snow,  and  there  was  no  such  glorious  giant  as 
Orizaba  towering  above  us  almost  the  entire  day, 
as  when  we  journeyed  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico 
City;  but  we  saw  sheer  walls  of  rock,  like  a  greatly 

[25] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

magnified  palisade;  vast  heights,  so  nearly  perpen- 
dicular that  we  wondered  how  the  verdure  clung  to 
them;  and  rifts  and  chasms  so  deep  that,  after  a 
glance,  we  instinctively  drew  back  into  the  car. 
Creeping  at  a  snail's  pace  along  a  narrow  shelf  of 
rock,  we  saw  suspended  from  a  spur  nearly  fifteen 
hundred  feet  below  us  a  train  of  oil  cars.  These 
tanks,  of  course,  and  the  oil  they  carried  were  the 
property  of  the  Tampico  oil  men,  but  apparently 
they  were  en  route  to  the  wicked  Constitutionalist 
authorities  in  Mexico  City;  so  "King"  Pelaez  of 
the  oil  fields,  who  guards  the  jungle  for  the  oil  men, 
dynamited  them — perhaps  mistaking  them  for 
passenger  trains. 

We  reached  Tampico  at  midnight,  several  hours 
late,  and  with  a  prejudice  against  "General"  Pelaez. 

I  had  been  told  by  the  American  Embassy  in 
Mexico  City  that  the  oil  men  paid  Pelaez,  for  guard- 
ing their  interests,  $200,000  a  month.  Still,  I  was 
surprised  to  learn  from  the  spokesman  for  the  oil 
interests  next  day  that  they  would  like  to  see  Pelaez 
president  of  Mexico,  because  he  was  their  friend, 
and  the  only  friend  they  had,  as  they  were  "in  bad" 
with  the  Washington  as  well  as  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment. Only  a  few  months  before  Pelaez  was 
content  with  $40,000  a  month  blackmail,  but  the 
Saturday  Evening  Post's  articles  on  Mexico  got  into 
his  hands,  and  he  "raised  the  ante."  j 

Two  years  ago  Pelaez  and  his  staff  lived  at  Terra 
[26] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Armenia,  the  big  oil  camp  belonging  to  "El 
Aguila,"  otherwise  Lord  Cowdray's  Mexican  Eagle 
Company,  and  were  represented  by  "General" 
Enriquez  at  Juan  Casiano,  the  biggest  of  the  camps 
owned  by  the  Huasteca  Petroleum  Company,  of 
which  the  founders  were  E.  L.  Doheny,  and  C.  A. 
Canfield  of  Los  Angeles.  The  "Generals"  were 
not  at  home  during  my  visit  to  Tampico,  having 
been  dispossessed  by  President  Carranza's  soldiers 
some  weeks  before;  so  I  did  not  have  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  them.  But  the  oil  men  spoke  highly  of 
them,  and  it  may  be  that  Pelaez  is  now  dearer  to 
them  because  he  costs  them  more. 

Carl  Ackerman  was  more  fortunate  than  I,  two 
years  ago.  "Who  is  Pelaez?"  he  asked  in  Tam- 
pico. "An  ignorant  Mexican  rancher,"  was  the 
universal  reply.  "He  is  a  revolutionist,  like  all  of 
us,  against  the  Carranza  Government.  He  has  a 
loyal  army  that  protects  our  property  and  workers. 
Pelaez  is  king  of  the  police  in  the  oil  districts." 

"And  Enriquez?"  Ackerman  questioned.  "A 
Mexican  doctor,"  answered  the  foreigners, 
"cultured,  educated  and  refined.  He  had  a  drug 
store  in  Tuxpan."  ("Mexico's  Dilemma,"  p.  80.) 

Unable  to  meet  the  "King  of  the  Oil  Fields,"  I 
said  to  the  oil  men:  "Why  don't  you  shut  off  this 
blackmail  and  make  your  peace  with  Mr.  Car- 
ranza? No  doubt  your  stockholders  could  use  to 
advantage  the  $200,000  a  month  you  are  giving 

[27] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Pelaez,  and  he  doesn't  seem  to  be  delivering  the 
goods."  "We  can't,"  was  the  invariable  reply. 
"He  would  blow  up  our  wells  if  we  did.  Besides, 
the  State  Department  at  Washington  knows  each  and 
every  payment  we  make  to  Pelaez,  and  approves  it." 

Of  course  a  guard  of  United  States  marines 
would  cost  these  gentlemen  nothing.  That  is  the 
first  incentive  to  the  plot  against  Mexico — extrica- 
tion by  armed  force  from  a  difficult  situation — and 
at  the  expense  of  the  American  nation  rather  than 
of  themselves. 

And  there  would  be  money  in  it! 

American  oil  men  profess  not  to  have  made  a 
cent  in  Mexico  in  years,  although  six  months  after 
my  return  from  Mexico  Doheny's  company  paid  a 
1918  dividend  of  more  than  $14  a  share,  and  Lord 
Cowdray's  company  paid  a  twenty-five  per  cent, 
dividend  last  January,  and  the  Dutch  Shell  has  paid 
thirty-seven  per  cent,  and  forty-eight  per  cent,  in 
the  last  two  years.  And  Mr.  Doheny  expects  1919 
to  be  the  banner  year  for  opportunities  developed 
and  negotiations  completed. 

How  much  money?  I  cannot  state  the  amount 
exactly,  but  one  item  of  economy  would  be  the  ex- 
port tax  now  levied  on  petroleum  by  President 
Carranza's  Government. 

According  to  official  Mexican  figures,  this  tax 
amounted  for  the  year  1918  to  $5,560,198.95  in 
American  money.  The  total  value  of  petroleum 

[28] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

exports  for  that  year  was  141,557,553.20  pesos,  the 
peso  being  legally  fifty  cents  American,  although 
usually  a  trifle  more  valuable  in  the  exchange. 
Exports  might  be  increased  and  taxes  eased  off  by 
American  intervention. 

Official  Mexican  figures  show  that  twenty-four  oil 
companies  own  their  land  in  fee  simple  and  pay 
no  rent.  Fifty-four  companies  pay  an  annual 
rental  of  less  than  five  pesos  ($2.50)  for  one 
hectare  (two  and  one-half  acres).  These  com- 
panies occupy  nearly  seven-eighths  of  the  oil  land 
under  exploitation.  The  total  area  rented  by  them 
is  3,325,490  acres,  out  of  a  grand  total  of 
4,064,870  acres.  On  this  they  pay  an  annual 
rental  amounting  to  $589,320.54,  or  a  little  more 
than  ten  and  a  quarter  cents  per  acre.  Twenty-two 
companies  pay  annual  rentals  of  less  than  $5  per 
hectare  upon  138,340  acres,  amounting  to  $166,- 
254.84.  One  hundred  and  twenty-two  compa- 
nies pay  more  than  $5  per  hectare.  They  oc- 
cupy 175,087  acres  and  pay  a  total  annual  rent  of 
$2,443,457.72.  Several  companies  pay  from 
$500  to  $2,016  per  hectare,  which  raises  the  aver- 
age, so  that  on  the  total  acreage,  as  stated  above, 
the  total  annual  rent  is  $3,449,033.22.  Both 
rentals  and  tax  rates  are  lower  than  in  Texas  or 
Oklahoma,  but  under  American  intervention  they 
might  be  still  further  reduced. 

The  Mexican  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  In- 
[29] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

dustry  estimates  the  value  of  all  oil  properties  in 
Mexico  at  $300,000,000,  one-third  of  that  sum 
being  allotted  to  the  wells.  But  in  1915  the 
Huasteca  operators  reported  to  their  stockholders  a 
physical  valuation  of  lands  at  $75,000,000,  and 
have  since  increased  their  acreage.  Other  esti- 
mates, some  by  Americans,  place  the  value  of 
foreign  oil  holdings  at  one  billion  dollars.  A  stake 
worth  playing  for?  But  that  is  not  all.  Only  the 
surface  of  Mexico's  wealth  in  petroleum  has  been 
exploited  as  yet. 

Recent  efforts  of  the  New  York  Sun  and  other 
dailies  to  whitewash  Francisco  Villa  and  his  lieu- 
tenant, "General"  Angeles,  who,  it  is  now  pre- 
tended, is  "Provisional  President  of  Mexico,"  while 
Villa  is  merely  his  Secretary  of  War,  shifts  the 
limelight  for  the  moment  to  the  State  of  Chihuahua 
and  the  International  Boundary.  The  Sun  ab- 
solves Villa  from  the  Columbus  massacre  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  not  in  immediate  command  of 
his  men  at  the  time.  No  doubt  the  American 
people  and  the  British  Government  have  been 
equally  misinformed  regarding  the  murder  of 
Thomas  Benton  in  Villa's  office,  Juarez,  April  9, 
1914,  and  of  the  score  and  more  of  Americans 
whom  Villa  is  officially  charged  with  having  slain. 
Conclusive  evidence  of  the  moral  purity  of  Villa 
will  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  American  oil  in- 
terests maintained  a  financial  agent  and  a  press 

[30] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

agent  with  him  for  three  years,  which  of  course 
they  would  not  have  done  had  he  not  been  as  angelic 
as  Angeles  himself.  And  he  is  Mexico's  foremost 
military  leader.  That  was  conclusively  established 
at  the  Battle  of  Celaya,  where  General  Obregon  de- 
feated the  Villa  army  of  40,000  with  a  force  half  as 
large,  and  drove  him  back  with  a  handful  of  the 
men  who  survived  to  the  northern  mountain  fast- 
nesses where  he  has  since  skulked,  only  re-appear- 
ing for  a  cattle  raid  from  time  to  time  until  his  last 
feint  against  Juarez.  Villa's  break  with  Carranza 
took  place  in  September,  1914.  Chihuahua  has  an 
area  of  90,000  square  miles — nearly  three  times  the 
territory  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland,  but  its  popula- 
tion numbers  only  227,000 — which  exceeds  that  of 
Springfield,  Mass.,  by  2,000.  Chasing  bandits 
through  cactus  lands  isn't  easy  work.  If  you  don't 
believe  it,  ask  General  Pershing. 

And  a  handful  of  men  can  do  much  damage  and 
make  a  lot  of  noise.  If  you  don't  believe  it,  re- 
read the  recent  accounts  of  bombing  outrages  in 
American  cities,  and  of  riots  in  Washington, 
Chicago,  Boston,  Omaha,  and  elsewhere. 

But  how  has  Villa  maintained  himself  in  all 
these  years? 

Partly  by  stealing  cattle,  which  find  a  ready 
market  on  the  American  side  of  the  border,  de- 
spite the  efforts  of  the  Border  patrol  to  prevent 
smuggling,  partly  by  robbing  ranches  and  mines, 

[31] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

but  chiefly  through  the  charity  of  his  American 
friends. 

"Innocent,  well-meaning,  but  utterly  deceived 
Villa,"  writes  the  charitably  minded  Carlo  de 
Fornaro  (Carranza  and  Mexico).  "If  he  only 
knew  that  the  Cientificos,  whom  he  accuses  of  hav- 
ing affiliated  with  Carranza,  are  really  pulling  their 
wires  from  New  York,  and  using  him  as  a  tool  to 
eliminate  Carranza,  and  this  because  the  First  Chief 
intends  to  carry  out  all  the  radical  reforms  of  the 
revolution." 

Mr.  de  Fornaro  believes,  and  rightly,  that  the 
American  press,  though  it  cannot  be  bought,  can  be 
fooled.  He  tells  how  British  oil  interests  spent 
7,000,000  francs  to  corrupt  the  Paris  press  when 
Huerta  was  seeking  a  foreign  loan,  on  the  authority 
of  Dr.  Atl,  now  director  of  the  Mexican  National 
Art  School,  who  exposed  the  facts  in  "L'Humanite." 
Then  he  throws  some  interesting  light  on  the  press 
campaign  for  Villa  in  1913,  when  "the  Villa  pub- 
licity reached  its  zenith,"  and  "as  much  as  two 
hundred  dollars  was  paid  to  a  writer  to  get  a  story 
on  Villa  into  a  New  York  Sunday  paper." 

"Even  the  Aguascalientes  convention  became  a 
Punch  and  Judy  show,"  he  writes,  "managed  from 
New  York,  and  it  was  used  as  a  convenient  lever  to 
oust  Carranza  and  place  a  puppet  in  his  stead.  .  .  . 
In  fact,  all  the  interviews  passed  through  the  hands 

[32] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

of  an  American  press  agent  of  Villa,  and  his  mani- 
festos, proclamations,  and  letters  were  written  by 
the  agents,  and  signed  by  Villa,  who  was  absolutely 
ignorant  of  the  contents  of  the  documents." 

In  the  midst  of  a  new  campaign  against  Mexico 
through  the  press,  one  wonders  how  intelligent 
editors  can  be  deceived  so  easily.  In  the  case  of 
a  great  publication  like  the  Chicago  Tribune, 
owned  by  people  who,  as  revealed  in  the  Ford  libel 
suit,  are  also  interested  in  the  Harvester  Company 
and  in  the  oil  corporations,  all  of  which  are  now 
in  opposition  to  the  present  Mexican  Government, 
some  overzealous  newspaper  employe  might  oc- 
casionally stretch  a  point  of  fact  in  trying  to 
"roast"  Mexico. 

The  attitude  of  Mr.  Hearst's  papers  is  partly 
understandable  on  the  grounds  of  that  publisher's 
large  property  interests  in  Northern  Mexico.  But 
what  about  the  others? 

Melville  E.  Stone  said  a  few  years  ago  in  the 
course  of  an  address  at  the  Pulitzer  School  of 
Journalism,  "I  once  had  luncheon  with  the  editor  of 
the  Paris  Figaro,  Gaston  Galmette.  That  day  his 
paper  had  contained  what  purported  to  be  a  cable 
message  from  New  York,  recounting  in  thrilling 
phrase  the  story  of  a  massacre  of  a  large  company 
of  people  by  Indians  on  Broadway.  I  asked  him 
why  he  published  so  absurd  a  tale.  'Ah,'  said  he, 

[33] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

'there  are  sixty  thousand  brainless  women  in  Paris. 
They  are  the  demimonde.  They  read  Figaro  and 
these  silly  things  amuse  them.' 

"This  sort  of  journalism,"  Mr.  Stone  added,  "is 
not  the  most  profitable  sort  of  journalism,"  a  state- 
ment with  which  one  may  agree,  and  still  wonder 
why  it  should  be  blazoned  to  the  world  by  certain 
American  newspapers  in  their  efforts  to  please  the 
anti-Mexican  propagandists. 

Perhaps  even  the  great  and  powerful  news 
gathering  association  of  which  Mr.  Stone  has  been 
so  long  and  with  such  distinction  the  directing 
genius  is  at  fault.  The  Associated  Press  serves 
several  newspapers  in  Mexico,  and  has  its  main 
office  in  the  editorial  rooms  of  El  Universal,  a 
daily  with  correspondents  in  all  parts  of  the  re- 
public. Yet  its  dispatches  from  Mexico  are  meagre 
and  far  between. 

On  March  3,  1919,  a  Mexican  official  at  a  dinner 
given  to  visiting  newspaper  men  in  Mexico  City, 
announced  on  the  authority  of  the  present  Mexican 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  the  petroleum  con- 
troversy would  be  solved  by  eliminating  the  ret- 
roactive features  of  Article  27  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion. The  representative  of  the  Associated  Press 
took  the  floor,  and  asserted  that  he  would  not  wire 
this  statement  until  it  was  made  in  official  form,  and 
criticized  the  Mexican  officials  for  their  lack  of  sys- 
tem in  communicating  information  to  the  press. 

[34] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Not  wishing  to  duplicate,  but  believing  that  the 
information  should  be  cabled  to  New  York,  I  asked 
the  A.  P.  man  if  he  really  meant  to  "spike"  the 
story,  late  that  night,  intending  to  cable  it  myself. 

"Certainly  I'll  'spike'  it,"  he  said.  "It's  plain 
propaganda,  and  I've  been  warned  from  head- 
quarters to  let  propaganda  alone.  There's  too 
much  of  it  on  both  sides." 

I  shall  not  suggest  to  Mr.  Stone  that  any  member 
of  his  organization  would  be  guilty  of  suggestio 
falsi,  but  here  is  a  distinct  example  of  suppressio 
veri,  and  precisely  at  the  time  when  his  old  friends 
the  Shanghai  liar  and  the  correspondent  who  fre- 
quently heard  firing  off  the  Mole  St.  Nicholas  ap- 
pear to  have  taken  their  abode  in  Washington 
and  El  Paso. 

It  is  merely  a  coincidence,  of  course,  that  the  oil, 
mining,  and  other  interests  now  attacking  the 
Mexican  Government  should  have  chosen  as  their 
chief  press  agent  in  New  York  a  former  general 
superintendent  of  the  Associated  Press  office  in 
Washington,  Mr.  Charles  Hudson  Boynton,  whose 
father  held  that  position  before  him.  Mr.  Boynton 
came  to  New  York  nearly  ten  years  ago  to  engage 
in  the  brokerage  business,  and  has  been  president 
of  the  American  Russian  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

In  a  characteristic  letter  covering  anti-Mexican 
oil  propaganda,  Mr.  Boynton  tells  the  editor  that 
he  has  now  assumed  the  direction  of  affairs  for 

[35] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

the  National  Association  for  the  Protection  of 
American  Rights  in  Mexico,  seeks  "information  as 
to  the  individual  with  whom  we  should  deal  when- 
ever we  have  information  which  we  think  would 
be  of  news  value,"  and  concludes  by  a  reminder 
of  old  A.  P.  friendship:  "As  my  new  capacity 
will  bring  me  in  touch  with  many  old  acquaintances, 
I  hope  that  you  will  permit  me  in  the  near  future 
to  renew  ours." 

Frank  J.  Silsbee  is  associated  as  secretary  with 
Mr.  Boynton,  who  is  styled  "executive  director," 
and  the  offices  are  located  at  347  Fifth  Avenue. 

But  the  Boynton  bureau  is  not  the  only  concern 
handling  anti-Mexican  oil  propaganda.  There 
seems  to  have  been  an  Association  of  Producers  of 
Petroleum  in  Mexico  at  the  same  address,  letters  to 
which  appear  to  sometimes  get  in  Mr.  Boynton's 
hands,  and  there  is  or  was  until  recently,  an  "Asso- 
ciation of  Oil  Producers  in  Mexico,"  which  in  last 
March  issued  a  legal  brief  for  circulation  in  our 
State  Department,  the  foreign  offices  of  other 
countries,  and  the  diplomatic  corps.  It  is  rather 
well  done,  by  a  lawyer  for  the  Standard  Oil  Co., 
I  am  informed,  and  in  its  summing  up  thus  deli- 
cately hints  at  what  will  happen  to  church  property, 
if  the  petroleum  laws  are  not  amended. 

"Confiscation,  like  conflagration,  spreads.  If 
Mexico  consummates  the  confiscation  of  oil  fields 
contemplated  in  her  newest  constitution  and  de- 

[36] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

crees,  other  confiscatory  provisions  of  Article  22 
of  this  constitution  will  be  boldly  applied  as  against 
foreign  and  native  holders  of  lands.  It  is  undeni- 
able that  such  consummation  will  encourage  similar 
spoliation  of  foreign  owned  interests  in  other  new 
countries.  The  result  will  be  commercial  chaos 
and  fatal  retardation  of  industrial  development  in 
these  new  countries  where  development  is  so 
needed." 

This  association  lost  its  punch  by  admitting  that 
if  the  petroleum  laws  were  amended,  the  oil  people 
would  have  no  further  grievances  against  the  Mexi- 
can Government,  and  probably  will  disappear.  Of 
course  they  have  grievances.  Are  not  the  Mexi- 
cans committing  the  lamb-liH  folly  of  muddying 
the  wells  from  which  the  oil  men  drink?  They 
have  already  manufactured  the  bases  for  a  new  set 
of  grievances,  as  related  in  the  financial  columns 
of  the  New  York  Sun  (morning  edition),  of  June 
7,  1919,  where  nothing  appears  offensive  to  the 
propagandists. 

"News  that  the  confiscatory  feature  of  the 
Carranza  subsoil  nationalization  decree  is  now  a 
dead  letter  has  reached  operators  of  oil  companies 
in  the  Mexican  Tampico  fields.  They  are  going 
ahead  with  exploration  and  drilling  without  any 
interference  from  the  Mexican  authorities.  All 
foreign  oil  interests  in  Mexico  got  together  several 
weeks  ago  and  agreed  to  keep  on  boring  and  bring- 

[37] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

ing  in  wells  without  obtaining  the  new  form  of  per- 
mit. This  was  drawn  to  compel  obedience  to  the 
Carranza  decree  arbitrarily  nationalizing  Mexican 
subsoil  without  regard  to  property  ownership  or 
leased  rights  legally  established  before  that  decree 
was  promulgated  last  winter.  To  obtain  such  a 
permit  an  operator  had  to  sign  an  acceptance  of  the 
subsoil  decree  terms,  and  thereby  relinquish  by 
his  own  act  his  ownership  or  leasehold  rights. 
Several  new  wells  have  been  brought  in  by  Ameri- 
can companies  since  the  decision  of  the  operators 
to  go  ahead  without  government  permission." 

This  unlawful  conduct  recalls  the  dicta  of  an  oil 
man,  widely  published  throughout  Mexico:  "If 
Mr.  Carranza  won't  give  us  what  we  want,  I'll  go 
down  into  Mexico  City  and  set  up  a  government  that 
will." 

Even  more  dangerous  to  international  peace  than 
the  more  or  less  easily  recognizable  propaganda  of 
the  press,  or  the  alarming  and  untruthful  official 
appeals  from  the  governor  of  a  border  State,  or 
the  intentional  indiscretion  of  a  public  official  like 
Mr.  Speaker  Gillett  in  blurting  out  an  attack  on 
Mexico  at  a  gathering  of  pan-American  public  men 
chiefly  concerned  with  improving  relations  between 
their  countries  and  ours,  is  the  veiled  and  scientific 
attack  by  lawyers  and  other  employes  of  the  oil 
interests  in  their  private  capacities. 

Thus  Mr.  Ira  Jewell  Williams,  of  the  Phila- 
[38] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

delphia  Bar,  is  always  ready  to  reply  to  any  article 
in  which  a  favourable  opinion  of  Mexico  may  be  ex- 
pressed, and  to  set  the  editor  right.  In  so  doing 
he  encloses  with  his  compliments  a  reprint  of  an 
article  he  wrote  for  the  Journal  of  the  American 
Bar  Association  on  "Confiscation  of  Private  Prop- 
erty of  Foreigners  Under  Colour  of  a  Changed  Con- 
stitution." He  writes  on  elaborate  law  firm 
stationery,  but  omits  to  add  that  he  is  president  of 
the  Panuco-Boston  Oil  Co.,  although  he  broke  this 
rule  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  New  York  Times. 

Much  more  frank  is  Thomas  Edward  Gibbon,  at- 
torney of  Los  Angeles,  home  town  of  Messrs. 
Doheny  and  Canfield,  who  calls  his  book  "a 
lawyer's  indictment  of  the  crowning  infamy  of  four 
hundred  years  of  misrule,"  dedicates  it  to  the  poor 
peon  and  his  distinguished  fellow  townsmen,  and 
echoes  the  demand  for  intervention.  He  has 
written  the  text-book  for  the  interventionists,  re- 
gardless of  fact  or  of  consequences,  and  his  pub- 
lishers are  the  Doubleday-Page  Company,  once 
supposed  to  be  close  to  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Wilson. 

Careful  reading  of  recent  anti-Mexican  oil  prop- 
aganda shows  that  the  press  agency  desires  to  im- 
press four  points  on  the  public: 

( 1 )  There  is  no  plot  against  Mexico. 

(2)  The  plot  against  Mexico  was  discovered  or 
invented  by  an  author  of  artistic  temperament. 

[39] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

(3)  The  oil  men  are  spending  only  $30,000  a 
month  in  maintaining  armed  rebellion  against  the 
legitimate  and  recognized  Government  of  Mexico 
through  subsidies  to  the  bandit  Pelaez,   and  not 
$200,000  a  month,  as  they  told  the  American  Em- 
bassy in  Mexico  City. 

(4)  The  oil  interests  are  really  engaged  in  mis- 
sionary work  in  Mexico,  seeking  rather  to  benefit 
the  down-trodden  peon  than  to  exploit  the  natural 
wealth  of  the  country  for  selfish  purposes. 

These  statements  may  seem  contradictory,  but 
they  can  be  reconciled  easily  by  any  mind  which 
has  been  thoroughly  lubricated  with  petroleum. 
For  my  part,  I  rarely  express  doubt  at  any  statement 
a  press  agent  may  make.  It  seems  so  useless.  But 
points  one  and  two  are  flatly  denied  in  a  document 
which  is  entitled  to  consideration: 

WILSON  TO  END  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

(By  the  Associated  Press) 

Washington,  March  25,  1916. — Convinced  that  power- 
ful influences  are  at  work  to  force  intervention  in  Mexico, 
Administration  officials  were  today  considering  just  what 
steps  shall  be  taken  to  bring  the  agitation  to  an  end.  .  .  . 
President  Wilson  is  said  to  be  determined  to  stop  the  cir- 
culation of  inflammatory  rumours,  and  to  take  legal  steps 
if  necessary. 

I  yield  the  honour  of  discovery,  if  it  is  an  honour, 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who  is  thus 

[40] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

denounced,  I  believe  for  the  first  time,  as  an  author 
of  artistic  temperament. 

His  proclamation  of  an  order  to  stop  gun-running 
into  Mexico  would  indicate  that  he  really  means 
business,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  complete 
pacification  of  Mexico  would  quickly  be  an  accom- 
plished fact  if  unlawful  traffic  in  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion were  stopped,  and  legitimate  sales  to  the  con- 
stituted authorities  encouraged. 

If  the  Police  Department  of  New  York  City  were 
denied  the  right  to  purchase  weapons,  and  the  gun- 
men and  gangsters  encouraged  to  buy  automatics 
and  ammunition  in  Jersey  City,  it  is  probable  that 
there  would  be  an  increase  of  crime  in  New  York, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  about  the  effect  of  a  similar 
policy  for  the  last  few  years  in  Mexico.  The  num- 
ber of  murders  of  American  citizens  in  the  last  nine 
years  is  the  saddest  of  proofs  that  a  definite  policy 
is  essential  to  peace  along  the  border.  Most  of 
these  murders  were  committed  by  outlaws  armed 
with  weapons  of  American  manufacture,  and  trains 
have  been  blown  up  and  bridges  destroyed  by  dyna- 
mite "made  in  America." 

Naturally  the  "flimsy"  factory  maintained  by  the 
interventionists  in  Washington,  has  been  working 
double  shifts  behind  closed  doors  for  several  weeks, 
for  circumstantial  evidence  points  to  this  as  the 
propitious  hour  in  which  to  force  armed  invasion 
of  Mexico.  The  presidential  terms  of  Woodrow 

[41] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Wilson  and  Venustiano  Carranza  are  drawing  to  a 
close.  Mr.  Wilson,  who  has  seized  the  republics 
of  Santo  Domingo,  Haiti,  and  Nicaragua,  without 
loosing  the  American  grip  on  Panama,  has  thrice  in- 
vaded Mexico  without  a  declaration  of  war,  and 
might  be  persuaded  to  do  so  again.  Indeed,  the 
very  terms  of  his  latest  proclamation  make  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  establish  or  overturn  any  Govern- 
ment in  Mexico,  simply  by  instructing  Mr.  Lansing 
to  whom  munitions  may  be  consigned.  The  next 
president  of  the  United  States  may  be  of  a  different 
moral  and  political  type.  Moreover,  Mr.  Car- 
ranza may  be  replaced  by  one  of  those  smooth  di- 
plomatists not  uncommon  in  Latin-America,  with 
whom  it  would  be  next  to  impossible  to  pick  a 
quarrel. 

But  the  "flimsy"  factory  has  had  a  run  of  bad 
luck.  No  sooner  had  it  obtained  first  page  in  every 
daily  in  the  United  States  for  a  picturesque  story 
of  an  insult  to  the  American  flag  than  the  Navy  De- 
partment admitted  that  a  party  of  skylarking 
sailors,  who  had  gone  fishing  beyond  the  outposts 
maintained  by  the  Carranza  Government  around 
Tampico,  had  been  robbed ;  and  that  they  had  gone 
into  the  bandit-land  (ruled  by  "the  King  of  the  Oil 
Fields")  without  permission,  and  had  carried  no 
flag.  Efforts  to  fix  on  Mr.  Carranza's  soldiers  re- 
sponsibility for  the  murder  of  an  American  citizen 
and  the  outrages  committed  on  his  wife  by  bandits 

[42] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

also  failed,  although  the  shocking  story  would  have 
received  more  space  had  not  the  race  riots  in  Wash- 
ington seemed  bigger  news.  The  evidence  of 
Ambassador  Fletcher  likewise  proved  a  great  dis- 
appointment to  the  interventionists.  Instead  of 
half  the  territory  of  the  republic  being  held  by  the 
rebels,  as  the  New  York  Times  proved  by  a  map 
and  a  long  article  on  the  day  of  its  interesting  in- 
quest into  the  death  of  Francisco  Villa,  Mr.  Fletcher 
said  that  practically  the  whole  country  was  con- 
trolled by  the  Government  at  Mexico  City.  How- 
ever, Mr.  Fletcher,  who  had  spent  many  months  in 
Mexico,  had  been  deluded  by  the  Carrancistas,  as 
Mr.  Hearst,  who  has  not  been  in  Mexico,  proved  by 
reprinting  the  Times's  figures,  and  the  Times  has 
told  its  readers  just  how  many  men  would  be  needed 
to  conquer  Mexico. 

Still  there  are  hopeful  signs  for  the  future  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  interventionist.  The  great 
State  of  Texas,  which  so  carefully  enforces  racial 
equality  and  Christian  good  government  that  there 
has  only  been  one  negro  lynched  since  the  race  riots 
of  last  summer,  would  like  to  conquer  Mexico  with- 
out aid  from  the  Government  at  Washington. 
Furthermore,  the  Times  refrained  from  killing 
Villa  entirely,  and  the  capture  of  Juarez  by  the 
angelic  Provisional  President  of  Mexico  and  Sec- 
retary of  War  Villa,  which  may  be  attempted  again, 
would  be  a  fine  moral  victory  over  the  Carrancistas. 

[43] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

And  even  if  Juarez  weren't  captured,  there  would 
be  found  plenty  of  newspapers  to  devote  a  column 
on  the  first  page  to  the  glorification  of  Villa's 
victory,  and  his  forbearance  in  executing  only  eight 
Carranza  officials,  and  then  deny  the  story  next  day 
in  a  stickful  of  type  at  the  bottom  of  an  inside  ad- 
vertising page.  That  was,  of  course,  the  way  Chi- 
huahua City  was  "captured"  recently.  It  was 
briefly  explained  that  Villa  hadn't  really  captured 
the  city,  but  was  planning  to  do  so;  and  so  the 
eight  Carranza  officials  came  to  life  again!  And 
most  of  our  American  dailies  swallowed  whole  the 
extraordinary  "evidence"  presented  by  Mr.  William 
Gates,  although  Mr.  Gates  is  known  chiefly  from  his 
propagandist  articles  in  the  North  American  Review 
and  the  World's  Work.  We  are  indeed  a  credulous 
folk. 

Besides,  this  would  be  the  opportunity  to  do 
something  for  the  army  now  being  withdrawn  from 
Europe.  America  is  well  supplied  with  munitions, 
with  poison  gas,  and  with  seasoned  officers.  These 
officers,  especially  those  who  are  being  detained  in 
the  service,  and  can  account  for  the  fact  in  no 
other  way,  expect  an  invasion  of  Mexico.  Talk 
to  them  in  confidence,  if  you  don't  believe  it,  and 
see  what  they  say.  From  the  greenest  cadet  to  the 
oldest  U.  S.  A.  retired,  they  expect  to  "clean  up" 
Mexico.  And  the  thing  is  so  easy — on  paper.  A 
retired  colonel  made  the  statement  a  few  days  ago 

[44] 


SELF  PORTRAITURE 

By  German  Gedovius 
professor  in  the  Nacional  Academy 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

that  it  would  take  only  200,000  men  to  conquer 
and  pacify  Mexico.  But  this  is  an  exaggerated 
estimate.  Plans  have  actually  been  drawn,  and 
placed  confidentially  before  more  than  one  United 
States  Senator  and  more  than  one  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  showing  that  only  35,000 
men  will  be  required.  These  plans  are  familiar 
also  to  at  least  two  men  as  remotely  apart  as  New 
York  and  Mexico  City,  for  both  have  talked  to  me 
about  them,  and  their  figures  were  identical,  as  told 
in  a  later  chapter. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  while  the 
psychological  moment  for  invading  Mexico  is  near 
at  hand,  some  of  the  separate  movements  which  are 
designed  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the 
Mexican  officials,  and  which  might  have  had  that 
effect  had  they  been  simultaneous,  have  failed  to 
synchronize.  In  order  to  make  it  appear  that 
President  Carranza  controls  only  a  small  part  of 
the  767,005  square  miles  of  Mexican  territory — • 
five  per  cent.,  according  to  the  information  made 
public  by  a  New  York  banker  at  a  public  dinner 
last  winter — the  World's  Work  carried  a  series  of 
articles  giving  a  personal  estimate  of  the  other 
"chiefs."  Included  among  them,  of  course,  was 
Emiliano  Zapata.  While  the  magazine  was  still  on 
the  news-stands,  Zapata  had  passed  to  the  Great  Be- 
yond, having  long  before  ceased  to  be  a  real  factor 
in  the  affairs  of  the  State  of  Morelos,  where  he  had 

[45] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

once  been  supreme.  An  illiterate  Indian,  Zapata 
was  none  the  less  a  master  of  guerrilla  warfare. 
After  his  revolt  against  Huerta,  that  crafty  soldier 
sent  as  many  as  30,000  troops,  armed  with  machine 
guns  and  cannon,  against  him.  Zapata  defeated 
small  bodies  of  troops  in  many  engagements,  and 
when  outnumbered,  went  into  hiding.  But  when 
Constitutionalist  rule  was  established  in  Mexico 
City,  Zapata  declined  to  acknowledge  the  leadership 
of  Mr.  Carranza,  having  been  persuaded  by  Manuel 
Palafox,  his  secretary,  that  he,  Zapata,  should  have 
been  named  for  the  presidency.  Mr.  Carranza, 
all  attempts  at  conciliation  having  failed,  sent 
General  Pablo  Gonzalez  into  Morelos  last  winter. 
Zapatista  rule  came  to  a  speedy  end.  Zapata  was 
killed,  together  with  his  friends,  Mejia,  Amoles,  and 
Palacios;  "General"  Jaurequi  was  executed  after 
a  court  martial,  and  Zapata's  body,  having  been 
exposed  for  purposes  of  identification  at  Cuatla, 
was  buried  there  on  April  12.  The  death  of 
General  Aureliano  Blanquet,  following  that  of 
Zapata,  put  an  end  to  the  possibility  of  overthrow- 
ing the  present  Government  of  Mexico  by  concerted 
rebellion  within  Mexican  territory. 

The  landing  of  General  Blanquet  in  Mexico  was 
planned  and  financed  in  New  York,  and  was  at- 
tended by  a  fine  burst  of  press-agent  eloquence  in 
the  New  York  dailies.  Who  paid  the  bills  is  not 
stated.  Perhaps  it  was  the  German  Government, 

[46] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

which  defrayed  the  cost,  as  newspaper  readers 
will  remember,  of  the  proposed  invasion  of  Mexico 
by  General  Huerta,  just  before  that  worthy  was 
captured  by  United  States  authorities  and  placed  in 
the  prison  where  he  died.  The  fact  that  Germany 
financed  Huerta's  attempt  against  Carranza  is  a 
further  revelation  of  the  astute  double-dealing  of 
that  evil  race,  because,  if  you  will  believe  the  oil 
men,  Carranza  himself  was  pro-German,  and  this 
naturally  leads  to  the  inference  that  Germany  must 
also  have  backed  Blanquet.  At  any  rate  somebody 
did. 

Blanquet  was  to  join  forces  with  Felix  Diaz,  who 
was  said  to  control  the  States  of  Vera  Cruz,  Tabasco, 
Chiapas,  Oaxaca,  Guerrero,  Michoacan,  Jalisco, 
Guanajuato,  Puebla,  Hidalgo,  San  Luis  Potosi, 
Tamaulipas,  Nuevo  Leon,  Coahuila,  Chihuahua, 
and  the  Territory  of  Tepic.  Having  been  secretary 
of  war  under  Huerta,  Blanquet  was  expected  to 
unite  the  forces  of  Zapata,  Diaz,  Villa,  and  Pelaez 
and  thus  form  an  armed  ring  around  the  Consti- 
tutionalist Government,  and  kill  it  by  constriction, 
boa-fashion. 

Unfortunately,  at  the  time  of  his  landing,  Blan- 
quet learned  that  Felix  Diaz  had  abdicated  his 
authority  in  all  but  one  of  the  states  named  and 
taken  refuge  in  Vera  Cruz,  where,  with  a  few  fol- 
lowers, he  amused  himself  by  dynamiting  trains, 
until  General  Candido  Aguilar  put  a  stop  to  that 

[47] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

sort  of  sport;  after  which  he  took  to  robbing  hen- 
roosts. Villa,  the  leg  he  lost  in  the  Columbus  raid 
having  been  kindly  restored  by  the  New  York  news- 
papers, must  have  been  courting  the  girl  he  married 
recently,  as  gravely  chronicled  in  the  same  vera- 
cious journals  on  June  14,  and  Pelaez  was  fleeing 
before  Carranza  soldiers  somewhere  between  Tux- 
pan  and  Tampico.  Going  first  from  New  York  to 
Havana,  Blanquet  and  seven  companions  sailed 
for  Mexico  in  a  small  vessel  and  landed  at  Palma 
Sola,  some  distance  north  of  the  port  of  Vera  Cruz. 
Thence  they  made  their  way  inland  to  the  village 
of  Chavaxtla,  where  they  were  welcomed  by  Pedro 
Gabay,  one  of  the  Diaz  band ;  but  while  they  were  in 
conference,  General  Guadalupe  Sanchez  attacked 
them.  Gabay  fled,  but  Blanquet  was  killed,  almost 
by  the  first  volley,  and  with  him  died  General  Luis 
Amado,  Colonel  Traslosheros,  and  his  private 
secretary.  General  Francisco  Alvarez  was  court- 
martialed  and  shot. 

Comments  La  Revista  Mexicana:  "In  his  death 
the  followers  of  Madero  and  the  supporters  of  the 
Constitutionalist  Government  see  a  just  vengeance 
for  the  treason  and  assassinations  in  which  he  took 
part.  They  also  see  in  the  collapse  of  the  move- 
ment so  pretentiously  heralded  and  advocated,  the 
practical  collapse  at  no  late  date  of  the  efforts  of 
Felix  Diaz,  who  remains  in  hiding  in  the  mountain 
fastnesses  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  evincing,  as  he  always 

[48] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

has  done,  no  'stomach'  for  a  fight  in  the  open,  but 
contenting  himself  with  sporadic  raids  for  plunder 
and  murder,  and  with  the  issuance  of  bombastic 
proclamations." 

It  may  be  that  the  plot  against  Mexico  will  prove 
a  fiasco  as  a  whole,  that  the  complete  fabric  will 
be  no  stronger  than  its  weakest  part,  but  it  is  a 
danger,  more  menacing  to  the  United  States  than 
any  other  now  presented  by  our  highly  complex 
foreign  relations. 

May  we  not  hope  that  the  financial  controversies 
between  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  our  weaker 
neighbours  can  be  solved  by  open  diplomacy  rather 
than  by  armed  intervention,  no  matter  by  what 
altruistic  professions  violence  is  prefaced  or  ac- 
companied? 

Shall  we  throw  to  the  winds  the  peace  of  a  con- 
tinent as  lightly  as  though  it  were  a  mere  "scrap  of 
paper"? 

Shall  we  deny  to  our  next  door  neighbour  to  the 
south  the  right  of  self  determination  we  should  not 
dare  deny  to  our  next  door  neighbour  to  the  north? 

Let  us  not  send  for  the  bowl  of  P.  Pilatus.  After 
washing  our  hands  we  may  be  compelled  to  swear 
to  all  the  world:  "No,  gentlemen.  You  mistake 
the  odour.  What  you  smell  on  our  hands  is  Attar 
of  Roses  .  .  not  Petroleum." 


[49] 


CHAPTER  TWO:     THREE  SOLUTIONS 
FOR  OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 

In  writing  about  Mexico  I  find  that  I  have  greatly 
displeased  a  small  minority  of  my  countrymen 
who  advocate  an  armed  intervention  in  that  country, 
and  threaten  libel  suits  against  all  who  oppose  them. 
I  am  sorry  for  this,  but  console  myself  with  the 
thought  that  the  interventionists,  although  important 
because  of  great  wealth  and  powerful  political  in- 
fluence, number  less  than  2,000,  while  the  people 
who  would  bear  the  expense,  the  brunt  of  the  fight- 
ing, and  the  crime  of  war  for  conquest  against  a 
small  nation,  exceed  100,000,000. 

Most  of  the  interventionists  have  never  been  in 
Mexico,  but  have  financial  interests  there  in  oil, 
mines,  or  ranches.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the 
difference  between  us.  I  have  been  in  Mexico,  and 
I  have  no  financial  interests  there.  When  in 
Mexico  I  found  no  difficulty  in  obeying  the  laws  of 
the  country,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  I  would  have 
been  bound  by  them,  if  I  had  been  the  owner  of  an 
oil  well.  Perhaps  great  wealth  modifies  one's 
point  of  view.  It  seems  to  have  had  that  effect  in 
anarchistic  Tampico. 

But  since  the  Mexican  problem  is  one  of  our 
[50] 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


making,  it  ought  to  interest  every  citizen.  Let 
us  try  to  see  it,  therefore,  as  loyal  Americans, 
fairly,  squarely,  and  consider  the  possible  solutions, 
of  which  I  offer  three. 

The  past  of  Mexico  belongs  to  Porfirio  Diaz. 
An  Indian  soldier,  he  grew  in  greatness  almost  to 
three  score  and  ten,  and  until  he  became  senile,  the 
country  grew  with  him.  Before  him  there  had 
been  heroic  patriots,  wise  theorists,  far-sighted 
statesmen,  but  from  the  time  of  Montezuma,  none 
save  he  alone  was  able  to  unite  and  direct  the 
heterogeneous  elements  of  the  Mexican  population 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give  Mexico  an  honoured  place 
among  the  nations.  No  viceroy  was  able  to  rule  so 
firmly  or  so  long.  No  president  or  emperor  con- 
ceived of  the  material  progress  to  which  he  guided 
his  compatriots. 

The  present  of  Mexico  belongs  also  to  Porfirio 
Diaz,  for  the  defects  of  his  great  qualities  are  still 
felt.  The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them,  and 
the  evil  of  Don  Porfirio  was  both  of  omission  and 
commission.  His  government  was  merely  a  mili- 
tary autocracy,  powerful  so  long  as  he  retained  his 
mental  vigour,  and  to  undo  the  things  wrought  in  his 
old  age  a  revolution  was  inevitable.  Neglect  of 
public  education  for  the  masses,  without  which  re- 
publican government  is  a  farce,  was  the  greatest  of 
his  sins  of  omission,  and  it  will  take  years  of  hard 
work  to  give  Mexico  a  literate  electorate. 

[51] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

The  future  of  Mexico  belongs  to  the  revolution, 
of  which  Venustiano  Garranza  has  been  the  presid- 
ing genius.  In  the  year  remaining  of  his  term  he 
will  go  far  toward  restoring  the  order  and  stability 
which  characterized  the  rule  of  Diaz  in  his  prime, 
but  with  a  regard  for  the  rights  of  the  peon,  the 
mechanic  and  the  shopkeeper  hitherto  unknown  in 
Mexico. 

The  constitution  of  1917  forbids  the  re-election 
of  Senor  Carranza,  and  he  will  uphold  the  funda- 
mental law  he  helped  create. 

Today  in  Mexico  evolution  is  succeeding  revolu- 
tion, but  civil  war  is  costly,  and  the  cost  is  still  un- 
paid. Destruction  of  material  wealth  can  be  re- 
stored from  the  sources  whence  it  was  derived, 
mines  of  incredible  richness,  soil  of  inexhaustible 
fertility,  a  vast  territory  having  docile  labour,  tre- 
mendous waterpower,  and  at  least  a  third  of  the 
world's  petroleum  supply. 

But  Mexico  has  always  been  a  debtor  nation.  In 
comparison  with  those  of  her  three  chief  creditors, 
the  United  States,  Great  Britain  and  France,  her 
debts  are  trivial;  but  these  three  powers  having 
undergone  a  terrific  strain,  having  spent  in  a 
month  more  than  Mexico  lost  in  ten  years  of  civil 
strife,  are  becoming  importunate.  They  are  pre- 
paring to  demand  a  cash  settlement.  Mexico's 
revenues  are  greater  than  ever,  her  prosperity  is 
assured  if  she  can  find  a  way  of  placating  her 

[52] 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


creditors,  but  at  the  present  moment  she  can  neither 
pay  principal  nor  arrearages  of  interest.  This 
doesn't  mean  that  Mexico  is  bankrupt,  for  her 
assets  are  a  thousand  times  in  excess  of  her  liabili- 
ties. It  simply  means  that  she  can't  convert  these 
assets  into  cash  quickly  enough  to  avoid  the  danger 
of  foreclosure. 

The  public  debt  of  Mexico,  the  national  debt, 
as  we  should  call  it,  had  reached  the  sum  of  520,- 
853,586.56  pesos  in  January,  1919.  Bear  in  mind 
that  normally  the  peso  is  only  50  cents  in  Ameri- 
can money,  and  that  the  greater  part  of  the  debt  is 
owed  either  on  bonds  without  date  or  maturing 
many  years  hence,  and  all  at  low  interest,  and  the 
total  seems  ridiculously  low. 

Unfortunately  Mr.  Carranza  was  compelled  to 
finance  the  revolution  without  recourse  to  foreign 
loans,  Which  were  impossible,  owing  to  the  world 
war,  and  while  his  administration  is  able  to  pay  its 
way,  it  has  not  been  able  to  pay  in  full  interest 
on  the  national  debt,  and  of  the  total  given  above 
92,170,899.61  pesos  represents  interest  due  this 
year  or  overdue.  The  total  also  includes  the  Muni- 
cipal Loan  of  1889,  amounting  to  12,525,815.47 
pesos,  which  matures  this  year. 

Mexico's  estimated  revenue  for  1919  may  be 
figured  at  a  minimum  of  180,000,000  pesos.  If 
the  Municipal  Loan  of  1889  were  refunded,  115,- 
000,000  pesos  additional  would  more  than  square 

[53] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

accounts  for  interest  up  to  1920,  and  no  banker 
would  hestitate  to  lend  this  sum  or  take  up  the  1889 
loan  if  the  three  chief  creditor  nations,  the  United 
States,  Great  Britian  and  France  sanctioned  the 
transaction.  Mexico's  financial  agents  were  told 
in  New  York  nearly  a  year  ago  that  the  entire 
transaction  could  be  financed  here,  if  Washington 
could  be  induced  to  say  "go  ahead."  In  what 
other  country  is  the  money  to  be  had?  Japan? 

The  three  powers  named  appear  to  have  resolved 
to  utilize  the  immediate  necessities  of  Mexico  to 
force  settlement  of: 

(1)  The  railways  dispute. 

(2)  The  petroleum  controversy. 

(3)  Claims  of  their  respective  nationals  arising 
from  the  revolution. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  when  the  revolution 
began  the  Mexican  Government  owned  the  control 
of  80  per  cent,  of  the  railways  in  the  republic.  In 
taking  over  the  remaining  fifth  of  the  rails,  "the 
high  handed  confiscatory  act"  of  Mr.  Carranza  was 
therefore  only  20  per  cent,  as  heinous  as  that  of 
Mr.  Wilson,  who  likewise  took  over  the  railways 
of  the  United  States  when  our  country  entered  the 
war,  and  who  seems  to  be  in  no  hurry  about  return- 
ing them  to  their  owners.  Mr.  Wilson,  of  course, 
merely  followed  the  example  of  Great  Britain  and 
France  in  nationalizing  the  railways,  but  prior  to 
these  identical  and  necessary  war  measures,  the 

[54]  ' 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


press  of  all  three  countries  denounced  "confiscation 
of  private  property  in  Mexico,"  and  editors  still 
take  a  whack  at  Mr.  Carranza  on  this  subject,  al- 
though instead  of  demanding  a  billion  dollars  to 
make  good  a  deficit  of  a  single  year,  Mr.  Carranza 
has  run  the  Mexican  railways  at  a  profit,  and  with- 
out raising  the  tariff  for  passenger  traffic. 

Soon  after  establishing  his  Government  in  Mexico 
City,  Mr.  Carranza  returned  the  Vera  Cruz  road  to 
the  capital  to  private  owners,  in  response  to  strong 
representations  from  the  British  Government,  most 
of  the  shareholders  being  British;  but  as  the  owners 
were  unable  to  prevent  frequent  interruptions  of 
traffic  from  followers  of  the  late  Emiliano  Zapata 
and  of  Felix  Diaz,  he  was  obliged  to  resume  control 
six  months  later. 

The  Mexican  Government  has  always  professed 
that  it  would  compensate  the  private  shareholders 
as  soon  as  it  had  the  money,  but  large  sums  have 
been  required  for  repairs  and  construction.  I  have 
before  me  as  I  write  the  statement  of  Felipe  Pes- 
cador,  who  became  director  general  of  the  national 
railways  when  Sefior  Pani  went  abroad.  He  says, 
March  19:  "The  National  Railways  of  Mexico 
registered  a  gain  in  1918  of  9,379,394.94  pesos  in 
comparison  with  the  receipts  for  1917."  He  then 
calls  attention  to  several  new  lines  constructed  dur- 
ing 1918,  and  to  further  improvements  he  believes 
to  be  justified  in  view  of  this  proof  of  a  business 

[55] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

boom  in  Mexico.  From  what  I  saw  of  the  country  I 
incline  to  agree  that  Mexico  is  ready  for  railway  ex- 
pansion, and  needs  only  ready  cash  with  which  to 
proceed.  Col.  Paulino  Fontes,  now  at  the  head  of 
the  railways  of  the  republic,  is  a  man  of  energy  and 
ability  who  learned  the  railroad  business  "from  the 
ground  up"  by  starting  as  a  brakeman,  many  years 
ago,  on  a  Texas  railway. 

The  petroleum  controversy  is  largely  political. 
It  is  true  that  Article  27  of  the  new  constitution  of 
1917  appears  to  confiscate  all  existing  oil  develop- 
ments, but  another  section  of  this  same  fundamental 
law  prohibits  retroactive  legislation.  The  Mexican 
Congress  now  has  before  it  a  measure  to  correct  the 
confiscatory  feature  of  Article  27,  but  it  would  be 
supreme  folly  in  the  Mexican  Government  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  oil  men  so  long  as  they  supply 
arms,  munitions,  food  and  large  sums  of  money  to 
such  bandits  an  "General"  Pelaez,  who  maintain 
an  insurrection  under  pretence  of  guarding  the  oil 
camps. 

An  amicable  arrangement  can  be  made  by  Ameri- 
can oil  interests  the  moment  they  decide  to  conform 
to  law  and  cease  fomenting  rebellion,  but  if,  as  the 
newspapers  have  repeatedly  said,  Lord  Cowdray  has 
sold  his  Mexican  Eagle  and  other  oil  interests  to 
the  British  Government,  I  have  read  the  clause  in 
the  concession  under  which  he  operates  by  which 
such  sale  automatically  annuls  it.  Lord  Cowdray's 
[56] 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


company  can  have  no  great  grievance  against  the 
Mexican  Government,  for  it  paid  a  25  per  cent,  divi- 
dend last  year,  surpassed  only  by  the  48  per  cent, 
dividend  of  the  Royal  Dutch  Shell,  and  as  it  is  cer- 
ain  that  the  Mexican  Eagle  cannot  pass  title  to  a  for- 
eign government,  it  does  not  seem  probable  that 
Lord  Cowdray  would  be  selling  gold  bricks  to  Great 
Britain.  Allied  diplomacy  was  not  in  agreement  in 
Mexico  regarding  the  petroleum  controversy  last 
spring,  but  the  presence  of  an  American  owner  of 
vast  Mexican  properties  at  the  conference  in  Paris 
may  have  had  a  harmonizing  effect. 

As  to  the  claims  of  the  Great  Powers  for  damages 
arising  from  the  revolution  to  their  nationals,  I 
was  told  by  an  American  lawyer  resident  in  Mexico 
City  that  Americans  place  their  damages  at  $100,- 
000,000,  and  the  French  and  British  at  $100,- 
000,000  more.  I  could  not  believe  this  statement 
until  I  had  verified  it  through  diplomatic  channels. 
According  to  the  figures  prepared  by  Marion 
Letcher,  American  Consul  in  Chihuahua  in  1912, 
American  investments  in  Mexico  totalled  $1,057,- 
770,000;  those  of  the  British,  largely  in  rails, 
$321,303,000;  the  French,  $143,466,000,  includ- 
ing $17,000,000  in  rails. 

These  railway  investments  in  Mexico  are  sound, 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  money  invested  in  mines, 
oil  developments  and  ranches  is  secure,  and  how 
the  claims  of  three  sets  of  nationals  for  the  destruc- 

[57] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

tion  of  personal  and  movable  property  can  ever 
have  reached  the  grand  total  of  $200,000,000  is  a 
mystery  which  can  be  solved  only  by  the  court  of 
claims,  international  commission,  or  whatever 
organization  has  occasion  to  audit  them. 

Regardless  of  the  justice  of  these  claims,  it  is 
plain  that  Mexico's  creditors  are  in  a  formidable 
position,  and  able  to  enforce  whatever  terms  they 
may  agree  upon.  They  have  money,  ships,  men, 
and  the  might  that  goes  with  them.  Perhaps  an 
agreement  was  entered  into  at  the  Peace  Conference, 
in  which  case  its  nature  will  doubtless  be  disclosed 
when  Mr.  Wilson  sees  fit. 

But  after  ten  years  of  uncertainty  and  vacillation, 
Americans  and  Mexicans  have  a  right  to  a  definite 
declaration  of  policy  at  the  earliest  moment  pos- 
sible. 

"What  is  Mr.  Wilson  going  to  do?"  is  the  way 
Americans  in  Mexico  put  the  matter. 

"What  is  the  new  Congress  of  the  United  States 
going  to  do?"  is  the  Mexican  version  of  the  same 
question. 

And  in  Mexico  you  hear  these  questions  on  all 
sides,  for  it  is  perfectly  understood  down  there  that 
the  attitude  of  her  powerful  neighbour  to  the  north 
means  prosperity  or  ruin  to  Mexico. 

As  Americans  in  Mexico  see  the  situation,  there 
are  three  ways  of  solving  the  problem  of  Mexico's 
future.  Various  minor  modifications  in  plans  were 

[58] 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


suggested,  but  all  were  reducible  to  these  simple 
formulae: 

(A)  Financial  assistance,  backed  by  good  will 
of  the  American  people,  and  genuine  and  intelli- 
gent co-operation  by  the  Government  at  Washington. 

(B)  Refusal  to  Mexican  overtures  for  financial 
assistance  in  combination  with  a  solemn  pledge  not 
to  meddle  in  Mexico's  affairs  at  home  or  abroad. 

(C)  Armed  intervention  and  permanent  occupa- 
tion of  the  Mexican  Republic  by  the  United  States. 

Either  of  the  first  two  plans  would  be  acceptable 
to  a  majority  of  the  Americans  in  Mexico,  and  to 
the  majority  of  the  Mexicans  themselves. 

Employes  of  the  American  oil  interests  in  Tam- 
pico,  and  a  group  of  mine  and  ranch  owners  favour 
intervention,  which  would  be  fought  by  the  popula- 
tion of  the  republic  as  one  man  and  to  the  last  ditch. 

Let  us  consider  briefly  each  of  these  possible 
solutions.  I  have  shown,  and  I  desire  to  emphasize 
the  fact,  that  Mexico  is  not  bankrupt.  She  is 
merely  temporarily  embarrassed,  can  be  tided  over 
by  any  one  or  all  three  of  her  chief  creditors,  and 
can,  I  believe,  obtain  the  money  elsewhere,  if  these 
three  chief  creditors  will  permit  her  to  do  so. 
There  is  today  in  actual  circulation  in  the  republic 
more  than  80,000,000  pesos  of  gold  and  silver 
metallic  currency,  which  is  usually  above  par. 
The  genius  of  Luis  Cabrera  placed  the  country  on 
a  gold  basis  under  conditions  which  would  else- 
[59] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

where  have  been  regarded  as  prohibitive,  and 
stories  to  the  contrary  are  mere  propaganda. 

If  cut  off  from  the  United  States  for  ten  years  by 
a  Chinese  Wall  of  sufficient  height,  the  Mexicans 
could  easily  work  out  their  own  salvation.  But  her 
next  door  neighbour,  the  richest  and  most  powerful 
nation  in  the  world,  gobbled  up  nearly  half  of  the 
original  territory  of  Mexico  in  the  last  century,  and, 
in  the  opinion  of  intelligent  foreigners,  is  about 
ready  at  this  time  to  swallow  the  rest  at  a  single 
gulp.  This  being  the  case,  Mexico  cannot  finance 
herself  except  in  the  United  States;  and  yet  Luis 
Cabrera,  now  secretary  of  the  Mexican  treasury, 
assured  me  last  winter  that  a  loan  of  $500,000,000 
would  suffice  to  put  the  country  on  a  prosperous  in- 
dustrial basis,  clear  up  back  claims,  and  fully  equip 
the  railways  for  the  additional  traffic  they  will 
necessarily  handle.  Half  a  billion  for  such  a  pro- 
gram seems  small  when  it  is  remembered  that  Di- 
rector General  Hines,  of  the  U.  S.  Railway  Ad- 
ministration, demanded  $1,280,000,000  from  Con- 
gress to  provide  for  the  expected  deficit  of  the  rail- 
roads in  1919  alone. 

Is  it  safe  to  lend  money  to  Mexico? 

Was  it  safe  to  lend  money  to  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy  or  Belgium? 

Notwithstanding  assertions  of  the  intervention- 
ists that  the  Government  headed  by  Mr.  Car- 
ranza  controls  barely  half  of  Mexico,  any  man  who 

[60] 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


has  been  in  Mexico  within  the  last  six  months  knows 
better.  The  fact  is,  the  present  Government  of 
Mexico  is  the  strongest  since  that  of  Diaz,  and  even 
men  like  former  Provisional  President  de  la  Barra, 
now  an  exile  in  Paris,  admit  that  Mexico  can  work 
out  her  own  problem  if  the  United  States  does  not 
interfere  by  an  armed  intervention. 

Terms  of  the  proposed  loan  and  conditions  for  its 
expenditure,  if  any,  can  only  be  made  in  Mexico 
City  under  the  eye  of  President  Carranza,  who  is 
in  the  habit  of  taking  personal  direction  of  all  im- 
portant matters.  I  have  heard  suggestions  that  the 
loan  might  be  expended  under  the  supervision  of  a 
commission  of  Mexican  bankers,  employing  at  least 
one  American  financial  expert  to  act  in  an  advisory 
capacity.  Any  stipulation  of  this  kind  must,  how- 
ever, be  drawn  with  due  respect  to  the  dignity  of  the 
nation,  as  the  Mexicans  see  it,  and  in  matters  of 
national  honour  the  present  Government  is,  to  ex- 
press it  mildly,  supersensitive.  With  an  embargo 
on  gun  running  actually  enforced  by  the  United 
States  authorities,  a  genuine  co-operation  on  the 
part  of  Washington  in  adjusting  international  dif- 
ferences, suppression  of  illegal  acts  by  American 
corporations  or  individuals  doing  business  in 
Mexico,  in  a  word  the  friendly  relations  implied  by 
our  recognition  of  the  Carranza  Government, 
Mexico  can  be  made  as  agreeable  a  neighbour  as 
Canada,  and  that  before  the  expiration  of  the  presi- 
[61] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

dential  terms  of  Mr.  Carranza  and  Mr.  Wilson. 

Refusal  upon  the  part  of  the  American  bankers 
to  assist  Mexico  financially,  if  coupled  with  a  defi- 
nite announcement  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  that  it  will  not  interfere  with  Mexico's 
affairs,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  would  result  in 
the  rehabilitation  of  that  country  almost  as  quickly 
as  an  American  loan.  Japan,  grown  rich  in  gold 
as  a  result  of  the  war,  could  finance  Mexico  without 
ever  missing  the  $500,000,000  required.  Harbour 
privileges  on  Mexico's  West  Coast,  concessions  as 
to  a  trans-oceanic  freight  route  at  Tehuantepec,  oil 
concessions,  safe-guarded  to  Mexico  under  the 
famous  Article  27 — any  of  these  things  would  be 
a  sufficient  inducement  to  the  financiers  of  Japan, 
of  France,  of  Great  Britain,  if  the  United  States 
would  pledge  non-interference. 

Loss  of  Mexican  trade  would  be  the  result  of 
such  a  policy,  but  neither  American  business  men 
nor  the  American  Government  have  displayed 
much  interest  in  Mexican  trade,  and  the  burden 
would  fall  on  Americans  now  engaged  in  legitimate 
business  in  Mexico. 

Of  the  third  proposed  solution  of  the  Mexican 
problem — armed  intervention — I  would  not  write 
a  line  did  I  not  know  that  plans  for  the  invasion 
of  Mexico  were  secretly  drawn  months  ago,  and 
placed  before  certain  senators  and  congressmen 
who  are  supposed  to  have  approved  them.  The 

[62] 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


project  is  too  grotesquely  insane  to  merit  more  than 
laughter  from  a  self  respecting,  honour  loving 
people,  as  the  Americans  proved  themselves  to  be 
once  more  in  the  crucial  test  of  the  war  against 
Germany.  But  grotesque  as  it  is,  secret  intrigue, 
slimy  propaganda,  the  use  of  tainted  millions  may 
easily  bring  about  an  international  crisis  from 
which  war  would  seem  the  only  way  out.  To  avert 
this  danger  pitiless  publicity  is  the  only  weapon. 

I  believe  that  the  war  from  which  the  United 
States  has  just  emerged  triumphantly  was  a  Holy 
War,  and  that  the  cause  we  upheld  was  that  of  civi- 
lization against  barbarism. 

Now  that  our  wounds  are  still  unhealed,  when 
the  lists  of  our  dead  are  still  incomplete,  when  we 
have  cheerfully  assumed  such  staggering  debts  that 
the  cost  of  our  Civil  War  seems  picayune,  Ameri- 
cans will  not  knowingly  be  forced  into  an  unjust 
war  against  a  weaker  nation,  a  war  of  greed,  of 
lust  for  conquest  and  spoliation,  no  matter  upon 
what  high  sounding  pretext. 

We  have  been  told  that  our  war  with  Germany 
was  to  make  such  things  impossible  for  all  times 
to  come,  and  I  believe  that  we  Americans  are 
highly  resolved  that  they  shall  be  impossible. 

I  have  spoken  of  plans.  There  may  be  several, 
but  this  one,  simple  and  direct,  was  outlined  to  me 
by  an  American  citizen  in  Mexico  City  last  April 
almost  word  for  word  as  it  was  suggested  to  me  three 

[63] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

months  earlier  by  an  American  citizen  in  New  York 
City. 

"We  won't  call  it  war,  but  pacific  intervention, 
or  some  other  name  that  will  not  alarm  our  people. 
We  will  begin  by  again  seizing  the  Port  of  Vera 
Cruz,  but  this  time  we  shall  take  Mexico  City  as 
well,  and  occupy  the  entire  Federal  District,  which 
is  all  the  territory  we  shall  need  to  hold  for  some 
years.  Not  more  than  thirty -five  thousand  men  will 
be  required  for  this  purpose,  and  there  will  be  very 
little  bloodshed,  for  the  Mexicans  are  as  tired 
fighting  as  any  race  in  Europe. 

"An  educational  campaign  will  be  begun  the 
moment  our  troops  land.  Proclamations  will  be 
scattered  broadcast  in  Spanish  informing  the  Mexi- 
cans that  our  only  object  in  landing  is  to  restore 
order,  to  build  up  Mexico,  and  to  make  life  and 
property  secure. 

"There  will  be  no  trouble  about  getting  educated 
Mexicans  to  assist  in  this  educational  campaign,  and 
we  will  place  such  of  them  as  can  be  trusted  in 
ornamental  positions  in  such  numbers  that  the 
Government  will  still  seem  to  be  in  the  hands  of 
the  Mexicans. 

"Our  army  will  be  used  as  the  nucleus  of  a 
Mexican  national  army  to  be  composed  of  natives, 
who  will  be  well  paid  and  comfortably  clothed  and 
fed,  and  who  will  make  admirable  soldiers,  when 
officered  by  Americans.  Of  our  own  men,  15,000 

[64] 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


will  suffice  to  hold  Vera  Cruz  and  the  line  of  com- 
munications, and  20,000  will  police  the  capital  and 
surrounding  territory  until  the  native  constabulary 
has  been  established.  As  the  Mexican  force  in- 
creases in  size,  young  Mexicans  of  good  family 
will  be  encouraged  to  accept  minor  commissions, 
and  American  jurisdiction  will  be  extended  from 
the  Federal  District  in  an  ever  widening  circle  until 
the  whole  of  the  territories  of  the  republic  have  been 
pacified  and  occupied." 

I  asked  both  my  informants  if  they  did  not  think 
in  view  of  the  lessons  derived  from  our  previous 
occupation  of  Mexico's  chief  sea-port,  and  our 
Punitive  Expedition  against  Villa,  it  would  be  better 
to  start  with  200,000  men,  but  they  were  sure 
35,000  would  be  enough,  which  figure  corresponds 
pretty  closely  with  the  two  divisions  estimated  as 
necessary  by  the  American  officers  in  Coblenz 
quoted  in  a  cable  to  the  New  York  Times  of  July 
15.  They  were  sure  that  35,000  would  suffice,  that 
the  capture  of  Mexico  City  could  be  effected  within 
a  month  after  landing  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  that  the 
whole  of  Mexico  could  be  pacified  in  two  years. 

"What  do  we  get  out  of  it?"  I  asked. 

"Mexico!" 

Here  in  New  York,  there  in  Mexico,  the  answer 
was  the  same. 

Mexico!  767,005  square  miles;  14,000,000  of 
population  accustomed  in  normal  times  to  in- 

[65] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

dustrious  habits  and  low  wages;  10  per  cent,  of 
the  world's  silver  supply  coming  from  the  Federal 
District  alone;  the  greatest  petroleum  fields  in  the 
world,  already  yielding  nearly  as  much  as  those 
of  the  United  States;  agricultural  lands  producing 
everything  from  bananas  to  wheat. 

On  paper  the  scheme  looks  like  the  easiest  and 
most  profitable  grand  larceny  ever  conceived  by 
Americans. 

Would  it  be  so  in  reality? 

To  the  gentleman  in  New  York  I  said:  "Don't 
you  think  your  figures  are  too  low?  Instead  of  an 
expeditionary  force  of  35,000,  would  not  half 
a  million  be  needed?  Would  it  not  cost  us 
200,000  in  lives,  ten  years  of  hard  fighting,  at  least 
two  billions  in  treasure,  and  would  we  not  at  the 
end  of  ten  years  have  earned  the  eternal  hate  of 
Mexico,  the  undying  ill-will  of  all  Latin-America, 
and  the  contempt  of  the  rest  of  the  world?" 

I  could  see  he  had  a  poor  opinion  of  my  knowl- 
edge of  Mexico,  of  finance,  and  of  military  mat- 
ters, as  he  assured  me  that  I  was  in  error. 

But  having  seen  Mexico,  and  studied  the  Mexi- 
cans, I  am  now  convinced  that  my  own  bill  of  costs 
was  too  low. 

In  ex-President  Taft's  time,  when  intervention 
seemed  imminent,  an  official  calulation  is  said  to 
have  been  made  as  to  the  probable  cost  in  money 
and  in  men.  It  was  then  estimated  that  some  four 

[66] 


OUR  MEXICAN  PROBLEM 


hundred  thousand  soldiers  would  be  required  for 
at  least  two  years,  while  the  money  cost  would  run 
into  the  billions. 

"Since  then,"  the  New  Republic  comments,  "the 
standards  of  war  expenditures,  both  in  men  and  in 
money,  have  greatly  advanced.  ...  A  million 
men  and  five  billion  dollars  might  suffice  to  sub- 
jugate Mexico;  hardly  less.  Where  are  the  men 
and  the  billions  to  come  from?  Must  we  resort 
again  to  conscription  and  to  increased  direct  taxa- 
tion, in  order  that  the  oil  and  metal  profiteers  may 
be  secure  in  their  projects  of  rapid  enrichment?" 


[67] 


CHAPTER  THREE:  AN  INTERVIEW  WITH 
PRESIDENT  CARRANZA 

"We  are  beginning  to  understand  President  Car- 
ranza,  and  to  think  he  is  really  a  great  man;  but 
is  he  great  enough?  That  is  the  question." 

And  that  question,  propounded  to  me  by  the 
editor  of  a  New  York  newspaper  on  the  eve  of  my 
departure  for  Mexico,  haunted  me  for  weeks,  until 
I  became  convinced  that  the  answer  should  be  in 
the  affirmative,  and  so  informed  him.  . 

My  opinion  of  the  man  is  based  upon  the  tangible 
evidence  of  real  achievement,  upon  personal  con- 
tact, and  upon  the  things  said  about  Mr.  Carranza 
no  less  by  his  friends  than  by  his  enemies. 

One  cannot  spend  much  time  in  Mexico  without 
realizing  that  in  all  the  tragic  years  following  the 
retirement  of  Porfirio  Diaz,  Venustiano  Carranza 
is  the  one  real  leader  evolved,  the  one  man  able  to 
hold  his  own  despite  opposition  at  home  or  abroad. 

One  cannot  travel  extensively  in  the  Mexican  Re- 
public without  knowing  that  today  the  greater  part 
of  the  country  is  at  peace,  that  the  complete  pacifi- 
cation of  the  land  may  be  expected  the  moment 
foreign  aid  is  withdrawn  from  bandits  posing  as 
patriotic  revolutionists,  that  business  conditions 

[68] 


INTERVIEW  WITH  PRESIDENT  CARRANZA 

have  greatly  improved,  that  reconstruction  is 
actually  under  way,  and  that  the  guiding  genius  of 
law,  of  order,  and  of  progress,  is  the  President. 

Such  a  man  makes  strong  friends  and  bitte 
enemies.  His  friends  praise  him  for  his  personal 
qualities  and  his  sense  of  justice.  They  tell  you 
frankly  that  they  see  no  evil  in  him,  and  refer  you 
to  his  political  opponents  for  the  shadows  with 
which  to  complete  your  picture. 

But  his  enemies  do  not  attack  his  private  char- 
acter, or  those  public  performances  for  which 
executive  authority  is  solely  responsible.  They 
condemn  him,  as  General  Grant  was  condemned, 
because  he  loves  his  friends,  and  trusts  them.  In 
this  they  are  not  altogether  wrong.  In  more  than 
one  instance,  the  President  has  been  deceived  by 
those  calling  themselves  his  friends,  but  not  for 
long. 

To  the  discontented,  whether  Mexican  or  Ameri- 
can, it  was  my  rule  while  in  Mexico  to  listen  pa- 
tiently, and  then  invariably  to  slip  in  the  question: 
"If  Mr.  Carranza  has  failed  to  make  good  as  presi- 
dent, who  can  be  depended  upon  to  produce  good 
results  in  that  office?"  No  one  had  a  candidate  for 
the  presidency  until  a  Tampico  oil  man  suggested 
the  bandit  Pelaez,  and  I  incline  to  think  he  was 
spoofing. 

Mr.  Carranza  is  a. big  man,  physically,  towering 
over  the  heads  of  the  average  group  of  Mexicans. 

[69] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

And  he  is  a  big  man  mentally,  well  educated,  well 
read;  a  lawyer  by  profession,  a  planter  by  prefer- 
ence, a  statesman  through  force  of  circumstances. 
For  common  sense,  ability  to  judge  men,  and  for 
quickness  of  decision,  he  perhaps  has  one  rival  in 
the  republic.  This  man,  who  surpasses  most 
Mexicans  in  vision,  and  is  commonly  spoken  of  as 
"the  Brains  of  the  Revolution,"  is  Luis  Cabrera, 
the  President's  devoted  friend. 

Of  ancient  and  honourable  Castilian  ancestry, 
Mr.  Carranza  entered  political  life  as  a  member  of 
the  State  Legislature  of  Coahuila,  represented  this 
state  afterwards  as  a  federal  senator,  and  was  its 
governor  at  the  time  of  the  Huerta  usurpation. 
When  I  knew  him,  in  the  spring  of  1919,  his 
sixtieth  year,  he  was  in  his  prime.  Most  Mexicans 
of  the  better  class  are  horsemen,  but  the  President 
was  recognized  as  one  of  the  best,  and  there  are 
several  of  his  officials  who  accompanied  him  on  a 
fifty-seven  mile  ride  to  Cuernavaca  who  have 
promised  themselves  never  to  ride  with  him  again. 
Of  the  details  of  his  career  from  February,  1913, 
when  as  Governor  of  Coahuila  he  disavowed  the 
Huerta  government,  newspaper  files  afford  a  com- 
plete record,  which  may  be  supplemented  by  ex- 
amination of  the  semi-official  biographies  of 
Palavicini  and  others. 

My  purpose  is  to  present  the  President  of  the 
United  States  of  Mexico  to  the  people  of  my  own 

[70] 


ISABEL  DE  PORTUGAL 
By  Pelegrin  Clave,  1872-1890 


INTERVIEW  WITH  PRESIDENT  CARRANZA 

country  by  direct  quotation  of  his  views  on  im- 
portant questions,  with  a  sketchy  record  of  the  con- 
versation when  he  received  me  in  audience  at  the 
National  Palace. 

Mr.  Carranza  prefers  to  make  his  home  in  a 
private  house  on  the  Paseo  de  la  Reforma  which  is 
in  no  way  conspicuous  among  the  palatial  structures 
which  front  on  that  splendid  boulevard,  and  some- 
times uses  the  official  summer  residence  in  the 
woods  of  Chapultepec  for  state  functions.  Or- 
dinary business,  however,  is  transacted  at  the 
Palacio  Nacional,  a  vast  structure  on  the  site  of 
Montezuma's  palace,  affording  ample  room  for  the 
treasury  department  and  the  national  museum  as 
well  as  for  the  offices  of  the  chief  magistrate. 

At  four  o'clock  a  fanfare  of  trumpets  announced 
the  arrival  of  Mr.  Carranza,  and  I  passed  through 
a  long  series  of  antechambers  to  the  handsome 
apartment  reserved  for  public  receptions.  The 
President,  who  had  been  seated  in  an  easy  chair 
beside  a  small  table,  arose  to  greet  us  with  a  firm 
grasp  of  the  hand  and  a  pleasant  smile.  I  say 
"us,"  because  on  this  and  subsequent  occasions,  I 
was  accompanied  by  Oscar  E.  Duplan,  secretary  of 
the  Mexican  Embassy  to  Washington,  whose  fluent 
command  of  both  English  and  Spanish  makes  him 
an  admirable  interpreter. 

Following  the  custom  of  Spanish-American 
countries,  I  had  submitted,  with  my  request  for  an 

[71] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

interview,  a  series  of  written  questions.  Mr.  Car- 
ranza  said  that  he  had  read  these  questions,  and 
would  dictate  replies  which  would  be  sent  to  me 
later,  but  that  he  was  prepared  to  discuss  some  of 
the  matters  thus  brought  to  his  attention,  or  to  give 
any  other  information  that  might  be  deemed  useful 
in  promoting  a  good  understanding  between  the 
American  and  Mexican  peoples. 

This  good  understanding,  I  ventured  to  suggest, 
had  often  been  imperilled  by  deliberate  misrepre- 
sentation of  fact  in  the  sensational  press  of  both 
countries,  to  which  the  President  assented.  He  be- 
lieved, however,  that  the  purpose  of  these  publica- 
tions was  so  well  understood  in  the  United  States 
that  their  power  to  injure  either  a  nation  or  an  in- 
dividual was  practically  gone.  In  explanation  of 
the  Mexican  Government's  toleration  of  a  yellow 
press  within  its  own  territory,  he  said  that  he  made 
it  a  rule  to  read  every  attack  published  against  his 
administration,  and  to  act  upon  any  suggestion 
made  for  the  improvement  of  any  branch  of  the 
Government.  Merely  personal  attacks  against  the 
President  he  had  ceased  to  read,  but  if  he  sup- 
pressed personal  criticism  directed  against  himself 
it  probably  would  have  the  effect  of  ending  criticism 
of  his  Administration,  which  he  regarded  as  too 
valuable  to  be  dispensed  with.  I  have  reproduced 
this  much  of  the  conversation  relating  to  the  press 
because  it  amplifies  Mr.  Carranza's  views  on  this 

[72] 


INTERVIEW"  WITH  PRESIDENT  CARRANZA 

subject  as  expressed  in  the  formal  questions  and 
answers,  which  follow: 

"I  assume,  Mr.  President,  that  whatever  mis- 
understandings have  existed  between  your  Govern- 
ment and  that  of  the  United  States  have  been  cleared 
up;  that  whatever  differences  remain  will  be 
speedily  adjusted  through  diplomatic  channels  to 
the  mutual  satisfaction  of  both  countries.  My 
readers  are  profoundly  interested  in  the  reconstruc- 
tion, in  the  future  of  Mexico,  and  I  am  sure  that 
they  desire  the  bonds  of  friendship  strengthened 
between  our  peoples.  What  proof  does  Mexico 
desire  of  this  increased  cordiality  of  sentiment  on 
our  part?" 

"Our  relations  with  the  United  States  are  better 
each  day,  because  having  passed  through  the  period 
of  the  war,  the  American  people  are  now  convinced 
that  we  remained  actually  neutral  during  an  epoch 
when  it  would  not  have  been  to  Mexico's  advantage 
to  enter  the  world  war.  The  best  proof  of  friend- 
ship the  United  States  can  give  us  in  the  future 
would  be  to  establish  complete  freedom  of  com- 
merce and  communications  with  us,  and  to  follow 
a  policy  of  non-intervention  in  our  internal  affairs, 
and,  on  the  part  of  the  American  Government,  to 
avoid  occasions  of  friction  by  exercising  greater 
caution  in  making  representations  or  claims  on  be- 
half of  foreign  citizens  residing  in  Mexico." 

"During  a  brief  sojourn  in  this  beautiful  country 
[73] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

I  have  heard  from  many  sources  of  the  policy  of 
conciliation  your  Administration  is  putting  into 
effect.  I  have  witnessed  the  joy  of  certain  Mexi- 
cans at  one  time  suspected  of  designs  against  the 
Constitutionalist  Government  on  being  permitted  to 
return  home  after  years  of  exile.  Has  the  time 
come  when  a  general  amnesty  may  be  declared 
safely  for  all  except  the  most  dangerous  characters 
among  the  exiles?" 

"There  are  a  number  of  Mexicans  who  aban- 
doned their  country  and  remain  in  exile  without 
other  reason  than  vague  apprehensions,  as  they 
were  not  expelled  from  the  country  by  the  Mexican 
Government.  All  of  these  Mexicans  have  the  per- 
mission of  the  Government  to  return.  Some  of  the 
Government's  political  enemies  have  also  been  re- 
turning from  time  to  time,  after  having  manifested 
a  strong  determination  not  to  take  part  in  plots  or 
conspiracies,  and  to  keep  the  peace  in  all  respects. 
Those  who  are  responsible  seriously  for  crimes 
committed  in  Mexico  have  no  intention  of  returning. 
There  is  no  thought  of  enacting  a  law  of  general 
amnesty  until  after  the  next  elections  have  taken 
place." 

"Given  the  moral  support  of  the  United  States 
Government,  and  unrestricted  access  to  Mexico  for 
the  purchase  of  guns  and  ammunition  in  our  mar- 
kets, how  long  would  it  take  your  Administration 

[74] 


INTERVIEW  WITH  PRESIDENT  CARRANZA 

to  rid  Mexico  of  the  skulking  bandits  who  still  infest 
isolated  districts?" 

"Assuming  that  complete  freedom  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  arms  could  be  counted  upon,  no  help 
from  the  United  States  would  be  needed  beyond  a 
vigilance  on  the  American  border  that  would  pre- 
vent the  organization  of  parties  of  rebels  and  hinder 
them  from  obtaining  supplies  to  be  used  after- 
wards in  Mexico.  Under  such  an  understanding 
Mexico  would  be  thoroughly  pacified  by  the  end  of 
the  current  presidential  term.  But  to  achieve  this, 
maintenance  of  an  army  will  be  required  at  the 
approximate  annual  expense  of  150,000,000  pesos. 
Neither  the  time  nor  the  money  involved  will  seem 
too  much  if  compared,  for  example,  with  the  years 
and  dollars  expended  by  the  United  States  in  the 
pacification  of  the  Philippines."  (Note:  Mr.  Car- 
ranza's  term  expires  December  1,  1920.  The 
figures  in  pesos  equal  $75,000,000.) 

"Financial  circles  in  the  United  States  are  keenly 
interested  in  the  recent  visit  of  Sefior  Nieto,  of  your 
treasury  department,  and  in  the  proposed  visit  to 
Mexico  of  a  group  of  Anglo-French-American 
bankers,  regarding  a  proposed  loan  to  Mexico.  I 
can  see  the  need  of  reconstruction  and  of  public 
improvements  in  many  directions,  especially  in  the 
matter  of  railways  and  the  stabilization  of  foreign 
loans.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  been  told  the 

[75] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Federal  revenues  have  largely  increased  within  the 
last  twelve  months,  and  that  Mexico,  having 
weathered  the  revolution  without  financial  aid  from 
foreign  sources,  is  not  incapable  of  continuing  her 
development  through  internal  resources.  May  I 
ask  frankly  if  your  Administration  really  desires 
a  foreign  loan,  and  if  so,  of  what  amount  and  for 
what  purposes?" 

"Mexico  really  believes  that  she  does  not  need, 
and  therefore  does  not  wish  to  obtain  a  loan  to  cover 
official  expenses,  as  we  hope  to  be  able  to  meet  all 
outlay  from  our  own  resources,  handled  with 
economy  and  efficiency.  Naturally,  we  should  be 
glad  to  come  to  some  agreement  with  our  creditors 
whereby  we  should  be  allowed  to  resume  the  pay- 
ment of  interest  on  an  equitable  basis.  We  do  not 
wish  to  promise  blindly  terms  that  we  cannot  fulfil, 
and  hope  to  convince  our  creditors  that  any  agree- 
ment must  be  based  on  Mexico's  actual  possibilities. 
All  the  economic  and  financial  necessities  of  Mexico 
will  be  resolved  when  the  flow  of  capital  returns  to 
its  natural  channel,  much  that  is  Mexican  having 
been  diverted  to  the  United  States,  and  when  new 
capital  is  attracted  to  Mexico  by  the  good  oppor- 
tunities for  investment  undoubtedly  to  be  found 
here.  The  Mexican  Government  is  disposed  to  give 
true,  effective,  and  equal  protection  to  all  capital 
invested  here,  without  either  promising  preferences 
and  privileges  to  foreign  capitalists,  or  creating 

[76] 


INTERVIEW  WITH  PRESIDENT  CARRANZA 

unfavourable  conditions  among  its  own  people. 
Knowledge  of  this  attitude  alone  will,  we  hope,  re- 
sult in  a  great  many  investments  being  made  here." 

"Cuba  will  sell  sugar  to  the  United  States  this 
year  to  the  value  of  $450,000,000,  and  tobacco  to 
the  value  of  $200,000,000.  She  will  retain  a 
handsome  balance  after  having  spent  in  the  United 
States  perhaps  $500,000,000  for  machinery  and 
supplies.  Under  normal  conditions  in  Mexico, 
commerce  between  our  countries  ought  to  be  five 
times  as  great.  What  can  be  done  at  this  time  to 
develop  our  industrial  and  commercial  relations?" 

"The  best  method  of  improving  relations  be- 
tween the  two  countries  is  one  which  is  already  in 
operation;  that  is  to  say,  facilitating  and  encourag- 
ing visits  to  Mexico  from  professional  and  business 
men  in  the  United  States,  with  journeys  by  the  cor- 
responding classes  in  Mexico  to  the  United  States, 
by  means  of  which  the  people  of  both  countries  will 
acquire  a  better  knowledge  of  each  other.  At  pres- 
ent mere  official  relations  between  countries  are  of 
a  very  secondary  importance  when  compared  with 
those  established  by  direct  contact  between  profes- 
sional and  business  men,  merchants,  manufacturers, 
students,  and  workmen." 

"I  am  aware  of  the  interest  the  President  of  the 
United  States  of  Mexico  has  manifested  in  agri- 
cultural developments,  and  of  those  advantages  of 
climate  which  permit  Mexicans  to  cultivate  with  sue- 

[77] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

cess  the  products  of  every  zone;  and  I  should  be 
glad  to  know  what  may  be  expected  in  the  way  of 
irrigation  and  scientific  land  culture  as  a  result  of 
the  impetus  given  under  your  direction  by  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture." 

"Mexico  must  make  a  great  effort  to  open  up  all 
the  land  that  can  now  be  cultivated,  and  our  agri- 
cultural problem  involves  the  education  of  the  rural 
population,  and  the  establishment  of  a  system 
adequate  to  our  conditions  of  agricultural  credits 
(Credito  Agricola  Refaccionario)  that  will  free  the 
farmers  from  the  ancient  system  of  mortgage 
loans." 

"Education  of  the  masses  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  problems  of  republican  government.  In 
my  country  the  ignorant  voter  is  a  menace.  In 
some  Spanish-American  countries  he  is  a  danger. 
What  plans  are  being  made  for  primary  education, 
and  for  a  graded  course  of  instruction  leading  to 
the  technical  schools,  now  that  Mexico  has  assumed 
control  of  secular  education?" 

"The  nation  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
chief  effort  that  must  be  made  in  the  direction  of 
education  shall  be  a  considerable  expansion  of 
primary  education,  which  at  present  is  under  the 
direction  of  the  municipal  authorities.  Both  the 
Federal  and  State  Governments  are  trying  to  assist 
in  the  development  of  technical,  agricultural,  and 
industrial  education,  giving  less  attention  to  the 

[78] 


INTERVIEW  WITH  PRESIDENT  CARRANZA 

universities  and  leaving  them  to  private  initiative. 
Meantime  the  Government  prefers  to  give  its  best 
efforts  to  the  extension  of  primary  education." 

"In  our  country  as  in  yours  freedom  of  the  press 
is  a  constitutional  guarantee,  but  with  us  the  rights 
of  individuals  are  safeguarded  by  statutory  re- 
strictions. In  dealing  with  public  matters  I  find 
at  home  as  in  Mexico  a  tendency  to  construe  liberty 
as  license.  Allow  me  to  quote  your  own  words  at 
a  critical  time  in  Mexico,  because  they  precisely 
describe  conditions  in  the  United  States  during  a 
period  of  trial,  in  regard  to  the  newspapers  of 
Mexico: 

"  'It  is  well  known  that  the  abuse  of  liberty  of 
speech  and  of  the  press  in  times  past  contributed 
importantly  toward  weakening  the  stability  and 
prestige  of  the  legitimate  Government  of  the  Re- 
public, and  to  aid  and  encourage  the  audacity  of 
its  enemies.' 

"You  are  aware,  Mr.  President,  that  Mexico's 
worst  newspaper  enemies  in  the  United  States  have 
also  been  the  worst  enemies  of  the  United  States. 
Shall  these  discredited  publications  be  permitted 
to  foment  new  misunderstandings  between  the  Mexi- 
can and  the  American  peoples?  Or  have  they  lost 
their  power  to  do  evil,  now  that  their  motives  are 
clear  to  all?" 

"At  present  any  attempt  to  restrain  the  abuses  of 
the  yellow  press  would  be  interpreted  as  weakness 

[79] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

on  the  part  of  the  Government,  and  as  dread  of  the 
free  discussion  of  its  acts.  Although  I  realize  that 
the  attitude  of  many  small  newspapers  is  uncalled 
for  and  unjust,  the  Government  has  decided  to  take 
no  steps  to  suppress  them,  unless  they  invite  re- 
bellion and  assist  with  their  propaganda  those  who 
would  overthrow  public  order.  When  abuses  of 
the  yellow  press  reach  a  danger  point,  society  will 
demand  the  enactment  of  laws  by  the  legislative 
power  that  will  safeguard  private  life  and  personal 
reputation  by  providing  for  the  punishment  of  those 
responsible." 

The  only  question,  either  oral  or  written,  to 
which  the  President  declined  a  response  was  that 
relating  to  petroleum.  Having  been  officially  in- 
formed that  the  interpretation  of  Article  27  of  the 
new  Mexican  constitution,  which  appears  to  con- 
fiscate oil  properties,  was  still  a  matter  of  contro- 
versy between  the  governments  of  Mexico  and  the 
United  States,  I  offered  to  transmit  any  statement 
he  might  care  to  make  on  this  subject. 

Mr.  Carranza  said  that,  having  submitted  to  the 
Mexican  congress  a  law  intended  to  clarify  this 
situation,  until  the  congress  had  taken  action,  it 
would  not  be  proper  for  him  to  discuss  it. 

I  had  also  been  officially  informed  of  a  rumour 
that,  notwithstanding  the  clause  in  the  new  consti- 
tution making  the  President  of  the  United  States  of 
Mexico  ineligible  for  re-election  under  any  circum- 

[80] 


INTERVIEW  WITH  PRESIDENT  CARRANZA 

stances,  Mr.  Carranza's  supporters  might  seek  to 
continue  him  in  power  by  means  of  an  amendment 
to  the  fundamental  law. 

Mr.  Carranza  left  no  doubt  in  my  mind  on  this 
point.  Mexico,  he  said,  had  never  really  enjoyed  a 
democratic  government  in  the  old  days,  a  govern- 
ment with  free  elections  at  which  the  people  could 
choose  their  chief  magistrate.  He  regarded  the 
law  which  prohibited  a  president  from  succeeding 
himself  as  a  wise  and  necessary  safeguard,  if  the 
people  were  ever  to  learn  the  means  of  self-govern- 
ment. 

So  ended  my  first  meeting  with  a  man  who  has 
left  with  me  an  impression  of  kindliness,  courage, 
and  intelligence. 


[81] 


CHAPTER  FOUR:     A  PRESIDENTIAL 
PROGRESS 

There  had  been  no  attempt  on  the  part  of  Mexican 
officials  during  my  visit  to  conceal  the  ravages  of 
the  revolution.  On  the  contrary  I  was  invited  to 
visit  the  districts  in  Morelos  and  elsewhere  which 
suffered  most  from  civil  war  in  order  to  see  the 
extent  of  reconstruction  work  necessary,  and  was 
disposed  to  do  so  until  an  inspection  of  the  war 
photographs  exhibited  by  the  Alliance  Frangaise 
in  Mexico  City  convinced  me  that  the  world  might 
be  weary  of  horrors.  The  waste  of  Belgium  and 
northern  France  has  been  superlative.  Mexican 
officials  admitted  that  these  scenes  could  not,  for- 
tunately, be  duplicated  in  their  country,  and  it  was 
with  a  grateful  sense  of  relief  that  I  accepted  Presi- 
dent Carranza's  invitation  to  accompany  him  to 
Guadalajara  as  an  alternative,  knowing  that  my  last 
days  in  the  republic  would  be  spent  in  pleasant 
places,  with  congenial  people,  and  under  conditions 
which  would  be  most  favourable  to  the  study  of  the 
personnel  of  the  Mexican  Government. 

The  presidential  special  consisted  of  six 
thoroughly  modern  coaches.  Mr.  Carranza's  own 
car  was  that  built  by  the  Pullman  company  for 

[82] 


A  PRESIDENTIAL  PROGRESS 

General  Porfirio  Diaz.  Thoroughly  renovated  in- 
side and  out,  it  looked  like  new,  and  contained  every 
convenience  of  more  recent  invention.  In  order 
that  the  observation  platform  might  be  utilized,  this 
car  was  the  last.  Next  to  it  was  an  office  car,  be- 
yond that  a  sleeper,  then  a  baggage  car,  and  finally 
the  private  car  Coahuila,  in  which  a  group  of 
Amercan  newspaper  men  found  excellent  accommo- 
dations. The  decorations  of  the  presidential  sec- 
tion were  uniform,  the  President's  own  car  bearing 
the  Mexican  arms  in  colours  on  a  large  shield.  In 
addition  to  this  train,  however,  was  another  in  which 
a  car  was  reserved  for  correspondents  of  the  prin- 
cipal Mexican  dailies,  flats  on  which  were  carried 
automobiles,  box  cars  for  horses  and  freight  cars 
and  ordinary  day  coaches  converted  into  temporary 
quarters  for  a  battalion  of  the  presidential  guard 
and  its  band. 

It  was  apparent  from  the  start  that  at  least  three 
of  the  best  chefs  de  cuisine  in  Mexico  were  aboard 
and  that  there  was  something  of  a  spirit  of  rivalry 
between  them  as  to  which  should  set  the  best  table, 
a  competitive  instinct  much  stimulated  by  the  fre- 
quency with  which  dinner  visits  were  exchanged. 

Clearly  the  affair  was  looked  upon  as  a  prolonged 
picnic,  except  by  officials  intimately  associated  with 
the  presidential  household.  They  knew  what  to 
expect,  and  were  not,  therefore,  disappointed  to 
find  that  President  Carranza  could  find  as  many 

[83] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

working  hours  in  the  day  on  train  as  in  Mexico 
City.  The  others  were  made  to  feel  that  as  guests 
of  the  chief  magistrate  they  were  free  to  come  and 
go,  and  to  amuse  themselves  as  they  pleased,  at- 
tendance being  expected,  however,  at  the  more  im- 
portant public  functions.  There  was  a  delightful 
absence  of  formality,  but  always  an  abundance 
of  that  exquisite  courtesy  for  which  the  Mexican 
is  distinguished,  even  among  Spanish  Americans. 
In  the  presidential  party  were  Pastor  Roauix, 
secretary  of  the  department  of  agriculture,  General 
Candido  Aguilar,  chief  of  the  military  operations 
in  Vera  Cruz,  son-in-law  of  the  President,  and 
representative  of  his  hospitality  on  the  President's 
car;  General  Juan  Barragan,  chief  of  the  presi- 
dential general  staff,  and  probably  the  handsomest 
man  in  Mexico;  Pedro  Gil  Farias,  former  news- 
paperman and  private  secretary  to  the  President; 
Francisco  M.  Gonzales,  controller  general  of  the 
treasury;  Manuel  Amaya,  first  introducer  of  am- 
bassadors; Mario  Mendez,  director  general  of  tele- 
graphs ;  General  Heriberto  Kara,  minister  designate 
to  Cuba;  Ernesto  Perusquia,  governor  of  Queretaro; 
Aurelio  Gonzales,  governor  of  Aguascalientes;  J. 
Felipe  Vaile,  governor  of  Colima;  Pascual  Ortiz 
Rubio,  governor  of  Michoacan;  Col.  Paulino 
Fontes,  director  of  the  Mexican  railways;  Dr.  J. 
Aleman  Perez,  the  President's  physician;  Ernesto 
Garza  Perez,  under  secretary  for  foreign  relations; 

[84] 


A  PRESIDENTIAL  PROGRESS 

Oscar  Duplan,  second  secretary  of  .the  Mexican 
legation  in  Washington,  and  a  number  of  the 
younger  officers  of  the  army. 

Aguirre  Berlanga,  secretary  of  Gobernacion,  and 
first  minister,  and  Luis  Cabrera,  financial  advisor 
to  the  President  were  left  behind  "to  sit  on  the  lid" 
in  the  capital,  but  later  joined  the  presidential 
party,  and  before  the  return  to  Mexico  Mr.  Cabrera 
had  resumed  his  post  as  secretary  of  the  treasury. 

The  wife  of  the  governor  of  Colima  was  the  only 
woman  on  the  train  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
time,  but  there  was  a  constant  ebb  and  flow  of 
visitors  of  an  official  character  from  day  to  day. 

The  rate  of  progress  maintained  was  suited  to  the 
taste  of  Mr.  Carranza,  and  although  the  President 
is  an  excellent  horseman,  so  much  at  home  in  the 
saddle  that  his  friends  dread  the  suggestion  of  a 
horseback  ride,  never  knowing  when  it  will  end,  or 
how  fast  a  pace  the  President  may  set,  he  prefers  a 
moderate  speed  when  travelling  by  rail  and  in- 
variably, almost,  caused  the  train  to  be  stopped  at 
meal  times.  There  were  hours  when  one  might 
have  walked  beside  the  train,  and  it  was  unusual 
for  a  twenty -mile  rate  to  be  exceeded.  Moreover, 
as  the  President  had  not  passed  over  the  road  to 
Guadalajara  for  more  than  two  years,  there  were 
little  receptions  at  every  way  station.  Sometimes 
there  would  be  songs  by  the  school  children,  some- 
times music  by  a  military  band,  but  invariably  there 

[85] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

was  a  gathering  of  the  local  notables,  with  a  fringe 
of  peon  labourers  in  the  background,  and  still 
further  back,  the  women  and  children.  And  in- 
variably the  President  was  received  with  en- 
thusiasm. 

"It's  quite  different  from  the  reception  accorded 
Mr.  Carranza  the  last  time  we  came  over  this  route," 
said  one  gentleman  in  the  party.  "Then  there 
were  crowds,  as  you  see  today,  but  the  motive  was 
curiosity.  They  were  not  sure  that  the  First  Chief 
would  make  a  success  of  things,  and  especially, 
they  were  not  sure  what  the  First  Chief  would  do  for 
them.  They  were  polite,  but  not  deeply  concerned, 
either  at  our  coming  or  our  going.  Now,  as  you 
see,  we  are  made  to  feel  everywhere  that  we  are 
among  friends.  The  revolution  has  succeeded,  and 
Mr.  Carranza's  attitude  toward  the  people  is  no 
longer  a  matter  of  doubt." 

Mr.  Carranza's  attitude  toward  the  people  was, 
in  fact,  the  occasion  of  a  certain  amount  of  alarm 
to  some  of  us.  We  would  crawl  into  some  gaily 
decorated  station,  and  after  the  national  hymn, 
with  which  the  train  was  always  saluted,  Mr.  Car- 
ranza would  sometimes  receive  a  few  of  the  local 
officials  in  his  car,  but  would  then  descend  for  a 
little  walk  up  and  down  the  tracks,  and  in  the  course 
of  this  walk,  none  was  so  humble  as  to  escape  his 
notice,  or  too  obscure  to  receive  a  pleasant  saluta- 
tion. The  President  was  ready  to  talk  with  any 

[86] 


A  PRESIDENTIAL  PROGRESS 

peon  who  had  anything  to  say,  and  there  were 
hundreds  of  opportunities  for  attacks  upon  his 
person  during  these  promenades.  I  ventured  to 
speak  to  one  of  the  officials  about  this  carelessness 
in  not  watching  over  the  President's  safety. 

"No  one  would  think  of  injuring  Mr.  Carranza," 
said  one  of  his  household,  "and  besides  he  will  not 
permit  us  to  interfere  in  these  matters.  What  do 
you  think  would  happen  to  any  man  who  attacked 
him?" 

At  any  rate  no  one  did  attack  him,  but  those  of 
us  who  remembered  the  fate  of  certain  American 
presidents  could  not  help  feeling  that,  however  de- 
lightful the  absence  of  ceremony,  additional  pre- 
cautions by  the  secret  service  would  have  added 
to  the  comfort  of  these  receptions. 

The  President  while  on  this  journey  began  his 
day's  work  at  sunrise,  spent  several  hours  in  going 
through  his  correspondence,  and  held  conferences 
with  the  various  officials  on  board  in  regard  to  their 
departments.  He  liked  to  see  his  guests  daily,  and 
apparently  apportioned  his  time  with  such  accuracy 
that  no  one  could  feel  slighted  or  neglected.  In 
conversation  he  is  deliberate  rather  than  slow,  taking 
advantage  of  the  presence  of  an  interpreter,  when 
talking  with  foreigners,  to  weigh  his  utterances 
carefully,  but  showing  by  his  manner  complete  com- 
prehension of  what  is  said  to  him  before  the  trans- 
lation had  been  completed.  In  a  word,  Mr.  Car- 

[87] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

ranza  understands  English,  and  has  been  known  to 
speak  it  on  occasion,  and  reads  it  easily.  His  use 
of  an  interpreter  is  one  of  those  little  bits  of  hum- 
bug to  which  visitors  in  Spanish  American  capitals 
are  quite  accustomed.  I  have  not  heard,  however, 
that  he  ever  carried  his  pretence  of  ignorance  to  the 
extent  that  so  irritated  a  recent  French  diplomatic 
representative  in  Mexico. 

Assuming  that  an  interpreter  was  necessary,  the 
Frenchman  called  on  one  of  the  members  of  the 
cabinet,  was  politely  received,  and  entered  upon 
his  very  delicate  negotiations  at  once.  There  were 
half  a  dozen  exchanges  of  visits  leading  to  nothing, 
but  finally  things  came  to  a  show  down,  and  the 
Frenchman  lost.  Details  of  an  agreement  were 
reached,  and  a  memorandum  drawn,  but  when  it 
came  to  the  exchange  of  signatures,  the  Frenchman 
who  was  anxious  to  return  home,  called  upon  the 
minister  without  his  interpreter.  The  man  was 
ill,  he  explained  in  broken  Spanish,  and  he  begged 
that  the  minister  would  be  kind  enough  to  provide 
an  interpreter  from  his  own  staff. 

"It  is  not  essential,"  said  the  minister  in  excel- 
lent French,  "for  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure 
to  converse  with  you  in  your  own  tongue,  if  you 
desire  it." 

The  Frenchman  has  never  forgiven  the  minister, 
and  yet  the  minister  was  entirely  within  his  rights. 

Possibly  some  indiscreet  things  may  have  passed 
[88] 


A  PRESIDENTIAL  PROGRESS 

between  the  diplomat  and  his  interpreter,  as  when 
a  newly  arrived  American  asked  a  friend  who  had 
been  in  Mexico  several  years  to  call  on  a  landlord 
with  whom  he  wished  to  arrange  a  lease  on  a  house. 
They  assumed  that  the  landlord  did  not  understand 
English,  and  discussed  various  stages  of  the  bar- 
gaining freely.  The  would-be  tenant  had  picked 
out  a  house  for  which  he  was  willing  to  pay  $150 
a  month,  although  he  admitted  that  it  was  easily 
worth  $200.  The  landlord  thereupon  exacted  a 
long  lease  at  $175,  splitting  the  difference  exactly, 
and  when  the  transaction  was  complete,  wished  his 
visitors  good-bye  in  English. 

To  return  to  Mr.  Carranza,  one  chief  char- 
acteristic of  the  man  is  frankness.  In  the  course  of 
many  conversations  with  him  while  on  this  journey, 
I  found  that  he  would  either  answer  a  question  in 
detail,  or  decline  to  answer  it  at  all.  Thus  when  I 
suggested  that  if  he  wished  to  say  anything  about 
the  petroleum  situation  or  rather  certain  phrases  of 
it  which  had  been  discussed  in  the  press,  he  repeated 
that  having  sent  a  petroleum  law  to  congress  in 
which  these  matters  were  covered,  he  could  not  dis- 
cuss them  until  congress  had  acted.  When  the 
Japanese  concessions  were  filling  first  pages  in  the 
Mexican  papers,  he  was  unwilling  to  say  anything, 
because  the  text  of  the  American  communication  on 
this  subject  had  not  reached  him. 

I  found,  however,  that  he  was  deeply  interested 
[89] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

in  some  of  the  problems  with  which  we  are  con- 
fronted in  the  United  States,  and  that  he  could  turn 
interviewer  upon  occasion  himself. 

Mr.  Carranza  feels  that  the  one  great  problem  in 
America  for  some  years  to  come  will  be  the  ad- 
justment of  relations  between  labour  and  capital. 
He  regards  the  increasing  number  of  strikes,  the 
Bolshevik  propaganda,  the  I.  W.  W.  agitations  as 
symptoms  of  unrest  which,  if  neglected,  may  lead 
to  grave  danger. 

The  danger  may  be  averted,  Mr.  Carranza  be- 
lieves, by  conciliatory  action  and  wise  legislation, 
but  if  a  policy  of  repression  is  adopted,  he  feels 
that  it  will  have  merely  a  temporary  effect.  And 
the  adjustment  of  the  relations  between  capital  and 
labour  seems  to  him  to  be  more  important  just  now 
than  the  formulation  of  a  world  policy. 

"The  time  to  establish  a  League  of  Nations  is 
after,  not  before  the  signature  of  the  peace  treaty," 
Mr.  Carranza  said  in  the  course  of  one  of  these  in- 
formal conversations.  "On  the  conclusion  of  a 
real  peace  it  will  be  possible  to  organize  such  a 
league  embracing  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
only  such  a  league  can  have  real  value." 

The  exclusion  of  Mexico  from  the  conferences  in 
Paris  had  been  deeply  resented  by  the  Mexican 
press,  and  had  been  regarded  by  certain  of  the 
officials  as  an  insult  to  the  nation.  Mr.  Carranza, 
however,  had  kept  silence  on  the  subject,  and  it  was 

[90] 


A  PRESIDENTIAL  PROGRESS 

not  until  the  second  day  of  the  journey  that  he  saw 
fit  to  refer  to  the  matter  at  all.  Then  it  was  in  a 
playful  way,  for  the  President  enjoys  a  joke  as  well 
as  the  next  man,  even  at  his  own  expense. 

The  talk  had  drifted  to  the  national  American 
card  game,  poker,  which  is  highly  popular  in 
Mexico.  Mr.  Carranza  commented  that  it  was  an 
excellent  game,  and  that  he  had  been  fond  of  it. 

I  said  that  I  fancied  the  President  had  played 
a  pretty  good  game  in  his  time,  for  in  most  of 
the  diplomatic  exchanges  with  other  countries 
he  had  shown  a  complete  mastery  of  the  art  of  bluf- 
fing, by  which  I  meant  that  when  it  came  to  an  actual 
call,  he  always  had  the  cards,  and  was  thus  able 
from  time  to  time  to  rake  in  a  good  pot  with  a  four- 
flush,  or  a  small  pair. 

Mr.  Carranza  seemed  amused  at  this  notion,  and 
remarked  that  if  he  had  unconsciously  built  up  that 
sort  of  a  reputation,  it  might  account  for  the  action 
of  the  peace  conferees  in  shutting  him  out  of  the 
game  in  Paris. 

Mr.  Carranza  had  admitted  in  the  course  of  a 
long  talk  that  he  considered  himself  responsible  for 
the  conduct  of  every  branch  of  the  executive  power, 
and  that  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  supervise  the  work 
of  each  department,  and  to  exert  direct  authority  in 
case  anything  went  wrong.  This  feeling  of  re- 
sponsibility, coupled  with  the  necessity  of  building 
up  a  competent  set  of  public  servants  who  could  be 

[91] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

relied  upon  to  carry  out  the  principles  of  the  revo- 
lution after  the  retirement  of  the  present  chief  of 
state,  is  the  explanation  of  so  many  young  men 
holding  high  office. 

Travelling  in  the  leisurely  way  indicated,  we 
were  four  days  in  reaching  Guadalajara,  one  of  the 
largest  cities  of  the  republic,  and  held  by  many  to 
be  the  most  beautiful,  surpassing  even  the  capital. 
There  was  a  vast  crowd  at  the  station  to  welcome 
the  President,  and  to  accompany  him  to  the  newly 
opened  hotel,  St.  Francis,  which  was  to  be  the  head- 
quarters of  the  presidential  party.  The  St. 
Francis,  it  may  be  noted  in  passing,  would  be 
a  credit  to  New  York,  both  as  to  architecture, 
convenience  and  service,  a  statement  which  would 
not  be  true  of  any  other  hotel  I  have  seen 
in  Mexico.  The  higher  officers  of  state  being  pro- 
vided for  at  St.  Francis,  other  members  of  the  party 
were  made  comfortable  at  the  Hotel  Fenix,  and  a 
round  of  festivities  began  on  Saturday. 

There  was  a  parade  of  school  children  in  honour 
of  the  President  in  the  morning.  Small  girls  were 
arrayed  in  the  costume  of  the  Mexican  Red  Cross, 
and  the  boys  were,  of  course,  scouts.  There  must 
have  been  five  thousand  youngsters  in  line,  making 
a  most  creditable  showing. 

In  the  afternoon  there  was  an  elaborate  dinner 
at  die  Country  Club,  offered  by  the  municipal 
councillors  in  honour  of  the  President,  with  covers 

[92] 


A  PRESIDENTIAL  PROGRESS 

for  at  least  1200.  There  were  seven  meat  courses, 
five  kinds  of  wine,  and  best  of  all,  but  one  speech. 

The  following  day  was  without  a  formal  pro- 
gram, most  of  the  presidential  guests  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  opportunity  to  visit  Lake  Chapala, 
the  greatest  of  the  Mexican  lakes,  having  a  length 
of  seventy  miles,  and  a  breadth  in  places  of  nearly 
thirty.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  literary  tea, 
followed  by  dancing,  which  was  attended  by  Mr. 
Carranza  and  his  entire  entourage. 

The  entertainment  was  held  in  a  newly  completed 
public  school,  built  of  white  stone  and  in  the  airy 
style  suited  to  a  climate  which  knows  no  winter. 
A  string  quartette  played  an  early  piece  of  Men- 
delssohn's; there  were  original  verses  by  one 
Spanish  and  two  Mexican  poets,  and  operatic 
selections  by  an  excellent  baritone  and  a  young 
soprano.  Tea  was  then  served  at  small  tables,  with 
sandwiches,  salads,  ices,  etc.,  and  the  floor  was  then 
cleared  for  the  dancers. 

Monday  the  President  and  his  guests  resumed 
their  places  on  train,  and  a  start  was  made  for 
Cocula,  some  thirty  kilometers  to  the  west,  where 
the  new  road  which  will  ultimately  open  up  the 
Pacific  port  of  Chamela  to  inland  commerce  now 
ends.  Arriving  late  in  the  afternoon,  the  President 
laid  the  corner  stone  of  the  terminal  building,  and 
the  ceremonies  were  at  an  end.  Dinner  followed 
at  a  hacienda,  after  an  inspection  of  Cocula,  and  a 

[93] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

dance  followed  which  lasted  late  into  the  night. 
It  had  been  expected  that  Mr.  Carranza  would  re- 
turn to  his  car  before  night-fall,  but  the  festivities 
having  been  prolonged  until  evening,  bonfires  were 
lighted  along  the  entire  stretch  of  road  between  the 
town  and  the  railway  with  rather  a  startling  effect. 

The  return  to  Mexico  City  was  made  without  in- 
cident, but  with  the  customary  stops  along  the  route, 
varied  by  little  excursions  into  the  nearby  country- 
side. 

The  region  traversed  in  this  presidential  junket 
is  the  richest  of  the  central  Mexican  plateau. 
From  the  higher  levels  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico  we 
passed  gradually  to  the  lower  altitude  and  warmer 
climate  of  the  lake  district,  through  lands  abound- 
ingly  fertile,  and  capable  of  enormous  yield.  The 
President,  himself  a  planter  in  his  younger  days, 
was  sufficiently  interested  in  a  great  dairy  to  make 
a  personal  inspection.  He  found  a  place  devoted 
to  the  manufacture  of  cooking  cheese  in  which 
8,000  cows  are  milked  daily.  He  also  visited  the 
irrigation  plant  at  Chapala,  realizing  as  thoroughly 
as  the  agricultural  experts  who  accompanied  him, 
that  the  most  arid  part  of  Mexico  would  bloom  like 
a  garden,  were  irrigation  possible. 

To  those  of  us  who  were  merely  sojourners  in,  the 
land,  there  were  some  impressive  sights  to  which 
no  reference  has  thus  far  been  made. 

Thus  there  was  the  battlefield  at  Celaya,  at  which 
[94] 


A  PRESIDENTIAL  PROGRESS 

Villa's  army  of  40,000  men  was  crushingly  de- 
feated by  General  Obregon,  with  half  as  many 
troops.  The  bandit  who  still  terrorizes  part  of  the 
northern  border  never  recovered  from  this  blow, 
which  gave  the  Carranza  forces  undisputed  pos- 
session of  the  greater  part  of  the  republic. 

Then  there  was  the  little  chapel  which  may  be 
seen  from  the  train  at  Queretaro,  but  which  is  worth 
a  closer  inspection,  erected  by  the  Austrian  gov- 
ernment in  memory  of  the  Archduke  Maximilian, 
for  some  years  Emperor  of  Mexico.  Queretaro 
in  an  old  fashioned  Spanish  town  lying  in  a  cup- 
shaped  depression  in  the  hills,  and  once  Maximilian 
had  been  driven  within  it  by  the  republican  army, 
his  fate  was  sealed.  There  could  be  no  escape 
from  the  doom  he  met  with  his  faithful  lieutenants, 
Miramon  and  Mejia.  Within  the  chapel  are  three 
stones  marking  the  spot  where  these  men  stood  to 
receive  the  bullets  of  a  firing  squad.  This  monu- 
ment to  an  unfortunate  Hapsburg  prince,  serves 
also,  it  seems  to  me,  to  point  to  the  futility  of 
foreign  intervention  in  this  ancient  land. 

At  La  Barca  there  were  two  things  to  be  seen 
that  some  of  us  are  not  likely  to  forget.  One  was 
a  vast  residence  fronting  on  the  Plaza  in  which  the 
main  patio  displayed  unique  mural  paintings 
representing  scenes  during  the  French  occupation. 
The  other  was  a  richly  fitted  up  chapel  in  the  prin- 
cipal church. 

[95] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Seeing  a  recumbent  figure  on  a  cot  bed,  we 
entered  this  chapel,  and  a  small  boy  drew  down  the 
sheet  which  covered  it  to  the  chin.  It  was  a  life 
size  wooden  effigy  of  Our  Lady,  neither  better  nor 
worse  than  the  average  from  the  artistic  point  of 
view,  but  which  possessed  unusual  interest  from 
the  fact  that  once  a  year  it  arose  from  its  couch  and 
talked. 

Returning  to  Queretaro  after  having  spent  eight 
days  with  the  presidential  party,  I  made  my 
acknowledgements  to  Mr.  Carranza  and  said  good- 
bye to  his  agreeable  entourage,  taking  advantage  of 
the  special  train  on  which  Col.  Fontes,  director  of 
the  railways,  was  returning  to  Mexico  City,  in  order 
not  to  miss  connections  for  my  return  to  New  York. 

There  was  a  decided  contrast  between  the  speed 
of  the  presidential  train  and  that  of  the  director  of 
railways,  so  great  that  I  could  not  help  remark- 
ing it. 

"The  reason  is  simple,"  said  Col.  Fontes.  "We 
must  be  careful  about  Mr.  Carranza  when  he  is  on 
the  road.  He  would  be  a  difficult  man  to  replace. 
A  railway  man  can  afford  to  take  chances." 


[96] 


CHAPTER  FIVE:     MEXICO'S  NEXT 
PRESIDENT 

The  next  president  of  the  United  States  of 
Mexico  will  be  a  Man  on  Horseback.  That's  rather 
vague,  for  the  proportion  of  Mexicans  who  don't 
ride  about  equals  that  of  Hawaiians  who  don't 
swim.  But  it's  quite  as  far  as  any  prophet  can  go 
who  knows  that  what  he  may  write  this  year  may  be 
used  against  him  next  year. 

However,  it  is  quite  certain  that  his  name  won't 
be  Carranza.  Don  Venustiano  will  be  content,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  words,  in  assuring  a  free  election 
to  the  Mexican  people,  and  even  if  he  were  disposed 
to  be  a  candidate  again,  the  new  constitution  of 
1917  provides,  Article  83: 

"The  President  shall  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his 
office  on  the  first  day  of  December,  shall  serve  four 
years  and  shall  never  be  re-elected." 

Reference  to  the  fundamental  law  facilitates  the 
process  of  elimination.  No  one  can  be  President 
who  is  not  a  Mexican  by  birth,  in  full  enjoyment 
of  his  rights,  and  the  son  of  parents  who  are  Mexi- 
can by  birth.  He  must  not  be  under  thirty-five 
years  old,  nor  have  been  absent  from  his  country 
during  the  entire  year  prior  to  the  election. 

[97] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Millions  of  men  could  qualify  under  those  re- 
strictions, but  here  is  a  constitutional  "don't  list" 
which  brings  the  number  of  candidates  down  to  a 
mere  handful: 

"He  shall  not  belong  to  the  ecclesiastical  state  nor 
be  a  minister  of  any  religious  creed. 

"In  the  event  of  belonging  to  the  army,  he  shall 
have  retired  from  active  service  90  days  immedi- 
ately prior  to  the  election. 

"He  shall  not  have  taken  part,  directly  or  in- 
directly, in  any  uprising,  riot  or  military  coup." 

At  the  last  election,  held  March  11,  1916,  Presi- 
dent Carranza,  then  first  chief  of  the  revolution, 
received  797,305  votes  of  the  total  of  812,928,  the 
remainder  going  to  other  leaders  of  the  Constitu- 
tionalists, including  General  Gonzalez,  Obregon  and 
Alvarado. 

It  is  not  surprising  to  find,  therefore,  that  these 
soldiers  are  among  the  foremost  candidates  for  the 
next  election,  although  by  no  means  the  only  ones. 
A  list  which  passed  muster  as  complete,  ran 
through  the  Mexican  newspapers  recently,  and  in- 
troduced a  number  of  civilians,  more  or  less  known 
outside  their  own  country : 

General  Alvaro  Obregon 
General  Pablo  Gonzalez 
General  Salvador  Alvarado 
General  Manuel  M.  Dieguez 
Licenciado  Luis  Cabrera 
[98] 


MEXICO'S  NEXT  PRESIDENT 

Licenciado  Manuel  Aguirre  Berlanga 
Ingeniero  Felix  F.  Palavicini 

It  may  as  well  be  explained  that  in  Mexico  and 
in  most  Spanish-speaking  countries,  it  is  customary 
to  prefix  the  professional  title  to  a  man's  name,  if 
he  has  one,  and  that  "licenciado"  means  lawyer,  and 
"ingeniero"  an  engineer. 

Even  this  small  list  can  be  subjected  to  the  same 
process  of  elimination,  and  to  discuss  the  per- 
sonality of  the  candidates  may  have  the  effect  of  a 
"close-up"  on  some  of  the  gentlemen  conspicuously 
identified  with  the  Carranza  Administration. 

Don  Luis  Cabrera  assured  me,  when  I  last  talked 
with  him,  that  his  real  ambition  in  life  was  to  turn 
haciendado.  He  is  country  bred,  having  been  born 
some  forty-three  years  ago  in  a  village  in  the 
mountains  of  Puebla,  and  having  acquired  the 
ownership  of  a  small  farm  or  hacienda,  is  eager 
to  experiment  in  intensive  agriculture. 

At  present  Sr.  Cabrera  is  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  an  office  he  has  filled  before,  and  with 
such  shrewdness  as  to  justify  the  designation  be- 
stowed upon  him  by  the  American  colony  in  Mexico, 
where  he  is  referred  to  as  "the  Brains  of  the  Revo- 
lution." 

Sr.  Cabrera  supported  himself  while  studying 
law  by  writing  for  the  newspapers,  and  suggesting 
ideas  for  cartoons.  He  was  one  of  the  first  news* 
papermen  to  attack  the  Diaz  regime,  notwithstand* 

[99] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

ing  which  he  made  a  success  in  the  law  before  turn- 
ing to  politics.  Having  been  -a  congressman  in 
Madero's  time,  he  served  as  a  diplomatic  agent  for 
Mr.  Carranza,  both  in  the  United  States,  and 
throughout  Central  and  South  America,  and  then,  as 
the  President's  confidential  friend,  took  a  leading 
part  in  the  reconstruction  work  now  underway  in 
many  parts  of  the  republic. 

Forced  by  circumstances  into  the  law,  which  he 
detests,  Sr.  Cabrera  is  by  instinct  a  literary  man. 
He  speaks  French  as  well  as  he  does  Spanish,  and 
converses  fluently  in  English,  German,  and  several 
of  the  Mexican  Indian  tongues.  A  delightful  com- 
panion and  an  indefatigable  worker,  he  is  extremely 
radical  in  his  political  views,  and  no  one  who  has 
heard  his  keen  flow  of  wit  and  sarcasm  would  be- 
lieve him  capable  of  the  smooth  and  flowing  new 
version  of  "The  Song  of  Songs."  He  treats  this 
love  poem  as  a  love  poem,  and  collates  in  an  ap- 
pendix the  Vulgate,  the  Septuagint,  the  King 
James's  Version  and  Luther's  Bible  with  the  Hebrew 
text  when  he  wishes  to  justify  a  departure  from  the 
accepted  translation.  When  you  add  that  Sr. 
Cabrera's  favourite  recreations  when  he  had  more 
leisure  were  horseback  riding,  duck-shooting  and 
playing  poker,  you  only  make  more  of  a  puzzle  of 
a  many-sided  character.  Having  lost  his  father 
and  two  brothers  in  the  revolution,  and  given  it  the 
ten  best  years  of  his  life,  Sr.  Cabrera's  friends  feel 
[100] 


MEXICO'S  NEXT  PRESIDENT 

that  he  has  a  right  to  quit  the  game  if  he  wishes  to. 

Sr.  Berlanga,  at  present  minister  of  Gobernacion, 
a  post  which  pretty  nearly  carries  the  rank  of  prime 
minister,  is  frankly  more  ambitious.  He  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  pro-German  during  the  war,  and 
in  fact,  looks  more  like  a  German  than  a  Spaniard, 
having  light  hair  and  blue  eyes  with  a  ruddy  com- 
plexion. As  a  candidate  he  just  barely  gets  by  the 
age-limit,  but  then  the  Carranza  Administration  is 
a  Government  of  Young  Men,  and  his  youth  is  by  no 
means  conspicuous,  General  Juan  Barragan,  chief 
of  the  general  staff  being  only  28. 

Notwithstanding  his  youth,  Sr.  Berlanga  has  had 
much  experience  as  an  official.  He  explained  to 
me  one  day  that  General  Carranza  ever  had  his  eye 
open  for  young  men  of  promise,  knowing  that  the 
future  of  Mexico  depended  upon  their  develop- 
ment. 

"The  General  tries  always  to  accustom  his  subor- 
dinates to  responsibility,"  he  continued.  "He  will 
appoint  a  young  lawyer  to  a  minor  judgeship,  and 
watch  his  decisions  carefully.  Then  he  may  shift 
him  into  municipal  administration,  and  if  he 
makes  good  there,  raise  him  higher  in  the  ad- 
ministrative scale,  even  encourage  him  to  become 
a  candidate  for  governor.  Then  he  may  ask  him 
to  accept  a  sub-secretaryship  in  one  of  the  de- 
partments, which  may  be  followed  by  quick  pro- 
motion to  cabinet  rank. 

[101] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

"General  Carranza  cannot  tolerate  stupidity,  dis- 
honesty or  laziness,  and  men  afflicted  with  these 
faults  do  not  last  long  under  him.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  is  perfectly  willing  to  overlook  a  failure, 
if  he  believes  in  his  man,  and  will  always  give  him 
a  second  chance  on  some  other  job." 

Consciously,  or  not,  I  think  Sr.  Berlanga  was 
autobiographical  in  this  discourse  upon  el  Senor 
Presidente;  which  I  give  because  it  explains  the 
rapid  rise  of  more  than  one  talented  young  Mexican. 

Sr.  Berlanga  is  perhaps  the  strongest  candidate 
among  the  civilians  now  entered  in  the  presidential 
stakes.  He  is  widely  known  as  the  author  of 
"Genesis  de  la  Revolucion  Mexicana,"  a  title  which 
does  not  seem  to  need  translation,  and  is  personally 
very  popular.  It  has  been  his  duty  as  cabinet 
minister  in  charge  of  what  corresponds  to  our  de- 
partment of  the  interior  to  enforce  the  church  laws, 
and  if  a  Catholic  party  re-appeared  on  the  eve  of 
the  election,  it  probably  would  oppose  him.  Other- 
wise he  might  have  a  good  chance,  for  the  allied 
black  list  has  been  abolished,  and  nobody  in  Mexico 
cares  whether  a  man  was  pro-German  during  the 
war  or  not. 

Sr.  Palavicini's  candidacy  was  not  taken 
seriously  when  I  was  in  Mexico  last  spring;  not 
that  he  lacks  ability  or  a  following,  but  rather  be- 
cause of  these  facts — combined  with  his  present 
occupation.  An  engineer  by  profession,  he  is  a 
[102] 


MEXICO'S  NEXT  PRESIDENT 

newspaper  man  by  preference,  and  as  such,  guides 
the  fortunes  of  El  Universal,  one  of  the  three  best 
papers  in  the  Mexican  republic.  In  the  course  of 
a  very  few  years,  especially  in  Spanish  American 
countries,  the  average  editor  cracks  too  many  heads 
to  be  able  to  run  for  office.  He  was  minister  of 
public  instruction  in  the  revolutionary  government, 
spent  some  months  in  exile  in  New  York,  and  took 
back  with  him  some  rather  progressive  journalistic 
ideas.  He  was  a  leader  of  pro-Ally  sentiment 
during  the  war,  and  thoroughly  exposed  German 
propaganda  at  a  time  when  Mexico  was  supposedly 
"neutral  in  thought  as  well  as  in  action." 

Of  the  military  candidates  the  one  best  known  to 
Americans  is  General  Obregon,  who  toured  this 
country  not  long  ago  on  a  mission  of  conciliation. 
It  was  Obregon,  who,  with  20,000  men,  routed  an 
army  of  40,000  at  Celaya,  commanded  in  person 
by  Francisco  Villa  and  seconded  by  Felipe  Angeles. 
The  story  as  related  to  me  by  an  American  news- 
paperman who  was  present,  may  be  given  briefly. 
Obregon,  knowing  himself  outnumbered,  formed 
his  men  in  a  hollow  square  and  dug  in.  Villa 
feinted  an  attack  on  one  corner  of  this  square, 
whereupon  Obregon  threw  all  his  machine  guns 
and  field  pieces  to  the  opposite  corner.  When  Villa 
opened  his  real  attack  with  a  cavalry  charge, 
Obregon's  shrewd  guess  enabled  him  to  mow  down 
men  and  horses  alike.  Four  times  Villa  charged 
[103] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

the  same  objective,  each  time  meeting  heavy  loss. 
Then,  at  four  o'clock,  Obregon  found  his  ammuni- 
tion exhausted,  and  expected  that  another  charge 
would  destroy  his  command.  Just  then  a  supply 
train  came  in  from  Mexico  City.  Villa's  fifth 
charge  was  repulsed,  the  Carranza  forces  took  the 
initiative,  and  from  the  commander  of  an  army  of 
40,000  well  armed  men,  Villa  had  become  a  bandit 
again. 

Angeles,  the  story  goes,  had  advised  Villa  not  to 
give  battle,  but  to  fall  back  on  Guadalajara,  a  rich 
city  where  much  loot  could  be  secured,  but  Villa, 
eager  to  again  establish  himself  in  Mexico  City,  and 
knowing  that  he  could  never  get  together  or  hold  so 
large  an  army,  plunged  into  battle. 

After  Celaya,  General  Obregon  became  secretary 
of  war  in  the  revolutionary  government  of  General 
Carranza,  and  when  this  merged  into  the  present 
Constitutionalist  regime,  General  Obregon  retired 
to  his  hacienda  in  western  Mexico,  and  has  re- 
mained out  of  public  life  ever  since. 

His  platform,  widely  published  throughout 
Mexico,  endorses  the  constitution  of  1917,  which 
he  pledges  himself  to  enforce,  and  he  guarantees 
equal  justice  and  privileges  to  Mexicans  and 
foreigners  alike. 

General  Pablo  Gonzales,  who  has  figured  in  the 
news  recently  as  one  of  the  Constitutionalist  officers 
commanding  troops  sent  against  Villa,  was  a  power- 
[104] 


MEXICO'S  NEXT  PRESIDENT 

ful  factor  in  the  overthrow  of  Huerta.  He  drove 
the  Huerta  forces  out  of  the  northeastern  part  of 
Mexico,  and  by  the  capture  of  Tampico,  made  the 
collapse  of  that  leader's  power  inevitable.  More 
recently  he  was  charged  with  the  pacification  of  the 
State  of  Morelos,  the  last  stronghold  of  Emiliano 
Zapata.  An  illiterate  but  resourceful  leader  of  the 
Villa  type,  Zapata  fought  against  Huerta,  but  de- 
clined to  recognize  General  Carranza  as  First  Chief 
of  the  revolution.  For  a  time  his  sway  extended 
over  several  of  the  southern  states,  but  while  an 
adept  at  guerilla  warfare,  he  had  none  of  the  qual- 
ities of  a  statesman.  Last  winter  General  Gonzales 
led  a  small  force  into  Morelos,  destroyed  the  Za- 
patista organization,  and  with  the  death  of  Zapata 
in  April,  the  pacification  of  that  state  was  complete. 
What  Huerta  could  not  accomplish  with  30,000 
men  armed  with  cannon  and  machine  guns,  Gon- 
zales achieved  with  a  force  one-tenth  as  large.  In 
political  feeling,  there  probably  isn't  much  dif- 
ference between  General  Gonzales  and  President 
Carranza. 

General  Alvarado  is  at  once  the  richest  and  the 
most  radical  of  the  military  candidates.  A  major 
in  command  of  400  men  in  the  Yaqui  region,  he 
joined  forces  with  Obregon,  then  a  lieutenant- 
colonel,  in  the  revolt  against  Huerta,  and  in  the 
early  days  of  the  revolution  was  second  in  command 
to  Obregon.  His  most  important  recent  task  has 
[105] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

been  in  the  reconstruction  of  Yucatan,  the  State 
which  exports  most  of  the  world's  supply  of  hen- 
nequin.  General  Alvarado  is  accredited  with  an 
amusing  but  highly  effective  piece  of  strategy 
during  the  Battle  of  Santa  Maria.  The  Huerta 
troops  had  been  driven  back  from  their  water  sup- 
ply, and  fought  with  the  utmost  desperation  to  re- 
gain their  position.  There  was  hand  to  hand  fight- 
ing for  nearly  twenty-four  hours,  at  the  end  of 
which  time,  General  Alvarado  drove  the  Huerta 
troops  into  a  watermelon  field,  and  the  men  re- 
fused to  fight. 

Since  his  retirement  from  the  army,  General 
Alvarado  has  shown  a  strong  interest  in  journalism, 
and  is  now  the  proprietor  of  a  new  daily  in  Mexico 
City,  El  Heraldo. 

General  Dieguez  is  at  present  commanding  the 
forces  operating  against  Villa  in  the  north  and 
Pelaez  in  the  Tampico  oil  fields. 

If  he  can  "get"  these  two  men,  he  may  prove  a 
formidable  candidate,  for  he  will  have  completely 
restored  order  in  the  northern  part  of  the  republic. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  fails  to  beat  Pelaez  and 
Villa  with  larger  forces  than  even  have  been  em- 
ployed against  either  bandit  heretofore,  he  isn't 
likely  to  retain  his  popularity. 

But,  having  fought  the  Huerta  crowd  to  a  finish 
in  company  with  Obregon,  Gonzalez  and  Alvarado, 
[106] 


MEXICO'S  NEXT  PRESIDENT 

Dieguez  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the 
Mexican  army. 

It  does  not  seem  probable  that  General  Candido 
Aguilar  will  seek  the  presidency  at  the  next  election. 

The  rumour  of  his  candidacy  can  be  traced  to 
American  newspapers,  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
Washington  on  a  special  embassy  from  President 
Carranza.  I  am  not  sure  that  he  would  qualify  at 
thirty-five  in  December,  1920,  and  the  fact  that  he 
is  President  Carranza's  son-in-law  would  militate 
against  his  chances  at  this  time.  General  Aguilar 
has  been  governor  of  the  State  of  Vera  Cruz,  and 
secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs,  and  can  afford 
to  wait  his  turn  until  later. 

From  what  I  have  written,  it  would  seem  that  the 
four  best  bets  at  this  time  in  the  great  Mexican 
presidential  handicap  are: 
Obregon 
Gonzalez 
Alvarado 
Berlanga 

Of  course  there  may  be  several  entries  of  dark 
horses  within  the  next  few  months,  and  conditions 
may  change  greatly.  At  the  moment  it  is  any- 
body's race. 

The  next  president  of  the  United  States  of  Mexico 
will  find,  when  he  takes  office,  December  1,  1920, 
that  his  powers  are  no  greater  than  those  ascribed 
[107] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

to  America's  chief  magistrate  in  times  of 
peace.  But  the  constitution  of  1917  in  denning  the 
powers  of  the  President  differs  from  that  of  the 
American  constitution  on  several  points,  which  may 
be  quoted: 

"The  President  shall  not  absent  himself  from  the 
national  territory  without  the  permission  of  the 
Congress." 

"The  right  to  originate  legislation  pertains  to  the 
President  of  the  republic,  as  well  as  to  senators 
and  representatives  in  Congress,  and  to  the  State 
Legislatures." 

The  President's  treaty-making  power  is  am- 
biguously stated,  for  among  the  powers  and  duties 
mandatory  upon  him,  one  clause  asserts  that  he  is 
"to  conduct  diplomatic  negotiations  and  make 
treaties,"  while  it  is  elsewhere  expressly  stated  to 
be  an  exclusive  power  of  the  Senate  to  "approve  the 
treaties  and  diplomatic  conventions  concluded  by 
the  Executive  with  foreign  powers." 

Since  this  chapter  was  written  a  new  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dency has  been  announced  in  the  person  of  the  Mexican  Ambas- 
sador to  the  United  States,  Ignacio  Bonillas.  Graduate  of  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  married  to  an  American 
woman,  thoroughly  familiar  with  American  ideas,  tactful  and  in- 
telligent, Sefior  Bonillas  ought  to  be  persona  grata  to  Americans, 
if  he  really  intends  to  make  the  contest. 


[108] 


CHAPTER  SIX:     BY  SEA  TO  MEXICO 

On  board  the  Ward  liner  from  Havana  to  Vera 
Cruz  was  a  young  American  business  men  returning 
to  Mexico  City  after  a  sojourn  in  the  United  States 
who  was  kind  enough  to  offer  advice  regarding 
newspaper  work  in  Mexico.  "You  periodistas 
come  down  here,"  he  said,  "and  see  what  you  are 
told  to  see,  and  then  we  show  you  what  we  know  you 
ought  to  see,  and  wait  hopefully  for  the  result.  It 
is  always  the  same.  Poetry  about  the  beauties  of 
land  and  climate.  Dull  facts  about  trade.  Noth- 
ing that  will  help  us,  and  that  should  be  your  first 
object." 

Perhaps  he  was  right,  but  to  refrain  from  com- 
ment on  mere  physical  impressions  would  be  to 
indicate  a  degree  of  insensibility  to  which  no  news- 
paper man  willingly  confesses. 

Thursday  evening  the  lights  of  Havana  sank  into 
the  sea,  and  on  Saturday  morning,  February  15, 
1919,  after  steaming  through  quiet  seas,  with  much 
heaving  of  the  lead,  we  anchored  in  five  fathoms 
as  near  the  Port  of  Progresso  as  possible ;  that  is  to 
say,  some  five  miles  out. 

Tedious  discharge  of  cargo  by  lighter,  and  of 
passengers  by  tug  meant  hours  of  delay,  and  per- 
[109] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

mitted  the  more  adventurous  to  go  ashore,  and  all 
to  wonder  that  a  port  which  had  been  for  half  a 
century  second  only  to  Vera  Cruz  should  be  so  ill 
provided  with  accommodations  for  shipping. 

Progresso,  be  it  known,  is  the  port  of  Merida, 
capital  and  chief  city  of  Yucatan,  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  of  the  Mexican  States,  and  the  centre 
of  the  henequen  industry.  It  is  also  the  natural 
port  for  the  State  of  Campeche  and  the  territory 
of  Quintana  Roo,  the  former  producing  lumber  and 
chicle  or  chewing  gum;  the  latter  having  a  wealth 
of  undeveloped  forest  and  farm  land.  Progresso 
has  7,000,  Merida  60,000  people,  all  dependent 
upon  imports  for  food.  The  greater  part  of  the 
Yucatan  peninsula  is  a  low  and  rocky  terrain,  fit  for 
nothing  but  henequen,  and  with  insufficient  rain  for 
other  crops.  Economic  conditions  have  been  un- 
favourably affected  by  the  war  in  Europe,  which  has 
sent  up  the  cost  of  living  by  depriving  the  country 
of  necessary  commodities  from  the  United  States, 
but  in  1917  the  declared  value  of  articles  invoiced 
at  the  American  Consulate  for  the  United  States  was 
$35,881,988.  In  that  year  125,595  tons  of 
henequen,  valued  at  $34,959,937,  were  shipped  to 
the  United  States,  other  exports  being,  in  the  order 
of  value,  chicle,  raw  cattle  and  raw  deer  hides, 
coffee,  logwood,  hair  and  sponges.  Later  figures 
are  not  available,  but  a  sensational  trend  upward 
may  be  looked  for  in  the  next  few  years. 
[110] 


BY  SEA  TO  MEXICO 


In  Progresso  the  price  of  a  shave  was  $1;  of  a 
bottle  of  beer,  60  cents;  of  a  package  of  cigarettes, 
grading  at  5  cents  in  Havana,  15  cents;  of  a  pound 
of  sugar,  25  cents;  of  a  little  dinner  for  four  per- 
sons, $60.  Naturally,  the  price  of  labour  has  risen, 
and  with  it  the  price  of  henequen,  and  there  is  no 
probability  of  a  return  to  normal  conditions  until 
supplies  and  shipping  also  return  to  normal. 
Meantime,  people  are  doing  the  best  they  can.  The 
Comision  Reguladora  del  Mercado  de  Henequen, 
Yucatan's  state  commission  for  the  regulation  of 
the  henequen  market,  not  only  fixes  the  price  of  that 
product,  but  acts  as  banker,  and  issues  a  paper 
currency  which  it  has  managed  to  exchange  steadily 
at  50  cents  American  per  peso. 

But  ask  a  planter  of  henequen,  as  I  did.  "Are 
you  downhearted?"  and  the  answer  will  be,  "No." 
These  people  have  something  to  sell  which  is  a 
necessity,  and  of  which  they  practically  have  a 
monopoly.  They  look  forward  to  a  better  state 
of  affairs,  and  believe  that  they  see  a  beginning 
now.  President  Garranza  is  much  interested  in 
Yucatan  affairs,  and  sent  Luis  Cabrera  there  to 
make  a  study  of  the  situation.  Mr.  Cabrera  spent 
several  months  in  Merida,  returned  to  Mexico  City, 
made  his  report  personally  to  the  President,  and 
will,  it  is  understood,  supervise  plans  for  returning 
control  of  the  henequen  industry  to  the  planters, 
ending  the  state  monopoly. 

[in] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

I  am  able  to  say  on  excellent  authority  that  the 
Mexican  Government  is  fully  awake  ro  the  need  of 
a  better  port  than  Progresso  to  drain  this  vast  ter- 
ritory, and  this  is  a  matter  which  will  be  considered 
as  soon  as  the  financial  problem  now  harassing 
all  Mexico  is  solved.  For  the  present  the  cost  is 
prohibitive.  Water  is  shoal  along  the  greater  part 
of  the  Yucatan-Campeche  coast,  and  the  planter 
I  have  already  quoted  estimated  that  the  matter  of 
piers  and  breakwaters  at  any  site  he  had  heard  of 
would  involve  an  expenditure  of  from  10,000,000 
to  50,000,000  pesos. 

At  Vera  Cruz  one  passes  the  customs  with  not 
more  delay  or  inconvenience  that  in  Havana. 

Mexico's  chief  seaport  has  a  capacious  harbour 
protected  by  a  breakwater  and  with  forty  feet  of 
depth  in  the  basin,  enabling  the  largest  vessels  to 
lie  up  against  the  wharves.  Normally  the  popula- 
tion is  about  60,000.  During  the  period  following 
the  evacuation  by  the  American  troops  under 
Funston  it  was  for  a  time  the  headquarters  of 
General  Carranza,  then  First  Chief  of  the  constitu- 
tionalists. Nearly  100,000  people,  including  the 
larger  part  of  the  American  colony  from  Mexico 
City,  crowded  it  for  a  time,  and  melted  away  when 
General  Carranza  returned  to  the  republic's  ancient 
capital. 

At  present  it  is  clean  and  seems  prosperous.     Ex- 
ports to  the  United  States  during  the  six  months 
[112] 


BY  SEA  TO  MEXICO 


ended  June  30,  1918,  had  fallen  to  $2,086,380,  as 
against  $7,242,781  for  the  corresponding  period  of 
1917,  so  there  still  is  abundant  room  for  improve- 
ment. 

A  favourite  topic  of  conversation  on  the  steamer 
had  been  the  frequency  with  which  the  Vera  Cruz- 
Mexico  City  train  had  been  held  up  by  bandits,  and 
the  ever  accurate  returning  business  men  had  stories 
of  wrecked  stations,  derailed  cars  and  engines  and 
the  swinging  cadavers  of  bandits  who  had  been 
caught  and  shot,  which  were  to  be  seen  all  along  the 
route.  We  were  told  that  it  would  be  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  buy  drafts  on  Mexico  City  in  Vera  Cruz, 
because  while  it  was  probable  that  we  might  get 
through  in  safety,  it  was  certain  that  if  we  were 
stopped  the  bandits  would  take  whatever  money 
we  had  with  us,  and  also  our  luggage,  and  per- 
haps our  clothing. 

This  lurid  fiction  was  not  without  a  foundation 
in  fact.  So  long  as  the  central  government  was  too 
weak  to  protect  itself  against  the  bands  of  patriotic 
"istas,"  whose  argument  in  favour  of  universal  free- 
dom was  the  indiscriminate  destruction  of  whatever 
property  could  not  be  carried  off,  the  Vera  Cruz 
line  was  the  subject  of  attack.  I  can  only  say  that 
had  I  listened  seriously  to  all  these  friendly  warn- 
ings I  would  have  missed  seeing  the  most  enchant- 
ing and  ever  changing  vistas  of  always  lovely  land- 
scape it  has  ever  been  my  good  fortune  to  behold, 
[113] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

I  would  have  missed  the  glories  of  Orizaba, 
Mexico's  highest  mountain.  I  would  have  arrived 
at  old  age  without  ever  being  on  a  railway  train 
from  6.15  A.  M.  to  9  P.  M.  under  circumstances 
which  made  every  moment  of  daylight  a  delight  and 
the  coming  of  the  darkness  a  source  of  regret.  I 
give  the  figures  as  a  gentle  suggestion  for  emula- 
tion on  the  part  of  our  own  railway  administration, 
for  the  train  left  Vera  Cruz  on  time  and  arrived  in 
Mexico  City  to  the  minute. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  warning  that  periodistas 
from  New  York  are  too  much  given  to  describing 
the  beauties  of  the  country,  I  refrain  from  telling 
of  the  contrast  as  the  train  rushes  through  the  hot 
zone  back  of  Vera  Cruz,  through  the  temperate 
climate  where  the  character  of  vegetable  life  com- 
pletely changes,  until  an  altitude  is  reached  at 
which  wraps  are  essential  to  comfort  and  perpetual 
snow  is  in  sight. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  more  worth  while  to  tell 
why  the  journey  is  now  safe.  I  will  not  say  of  the 
scenery,  as  Dicky  Davis  did  of  the  coronation  of 
the  late  Czar,  that  it  is  indescribable,  but  in  mak- 
ing the  attempt  to  portray  it  there  would  be  danger 
of  falling  into  poetry,  like  Mr.  Wegg. 

Credit  is  due  in  the  first  place  to  General  Candido 
Aguilar,  for  some  time  foreign  secretary  in  Presi- 
dent Carranza's  cabinet,  and  then  in  charge  of  re- 
construction work  in  the  state  of  Vera  Cruz.  I  had 
[114] 


BY  SEA  TO  MEXICO 


the  pleasure  of  meeting  this  gentleman  during 
a  brief  stop  at  Cordoba  and  later,  of  visiting  in  his 
company  a  new  aviation  camp  which  is  being  con- 
structed there  in  order  to  provide  a  strong  corps 
of  airplane  scouts  for  mountainous  districts. 

General  Aguilar  has  erected  a  series  of  block- 
houses at  intervals  of  ten  miles  along  these  isolated 
tracks,  declared  a  military  zone  for  fifty  yards  on 
either  side  of  the  track,  connected  the  blockhouses 
by  telephone  and  permitted  it  to  be  generally  known 
that  any  unauthorized  person  found  inside  the  fifty- 
yard  line  will  be  shot  on  sight.  The  new  system 
has  been  in  operation  for  a  short  time  only,  but 
there  have  been  no  attempts  to  interfere  with  traffic. 
Probably  there  will  be  none  so  long  as  vigilance  is 
maintained,  especially  as  armed  guards  are  pro- 
vided on  through  trains  between  the  capital  and  its 
chief  port.  And  as  this  book  goes  to  press,  night 
traffic  has  been  resumed. 


[115] 


CHAPTER  SEVEN:     MEXICO  CITY 
PROSPERS 

In  Mexico  City  on  February  the  twenty-second, 
flags  of  the  United  States  of  Mexico  flew  at  half 
mast  from  all  public  buildings.  From  a  few  pri- 
vate houses  including  the  American  Club,  flags  of 
the  United  States  of  America  floated  proudly  in  the 
breeze — proudly,  I  say,  because  there  have  been 
times  in  this  city  when  such  a  display  might  have 
caused  a  riot,  times  happily  gone,  we  may  hope,  to 
return  no  more. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  Washington's  Birthday  and 
the  anniversary  of  the  murder  of  Francisco  I. 
Madero,  once  president  of  the  republic,  and  of  Don 
Jose  Maria  Pino  Suarez,  vice  president,  must  be 
commemorated  on  the  same  day,  but  there  was  no 
conflict  between  patriotic  mourning  on  the  part  of 
the  Mexicans  and  the  equally  patriotic  rejoicings 
of  the  small  American  colony. 

The  entire  press  of  the  city  next  morning  de- 
scribed in  many  columns  and  with  profuse  illustra- 
tions the  three  ceremonies  held  during  the  day  in 
honour  of  Madero  and  Pino  Suarez,  in  which  fed- 
eral and  state  officials  took  part,  many  patriotic  and 
[116] 


MEXICO  CITY  PROSPERS 


political  organizations  assisted,  and  in  which 
oratory,  music  and  flowers  were  offered  to  the 
memory  of  these  victims  of  "the  usurper  Huerta." 

And  full  justice  was  done  to  the  celebration  of 
Washington's  Birthday  at  the  American  Club. 
This  institution,  which  dates  from  1895,  occupies 
a  large  house  on  the  Avenida  16  de  Septiembre,  and 
has  managed  to  maintain  itself  during  troublous 
times,  and  doubtless  will  share  in  the  return  of 
prosperty  now  underway. 

The  offices,  a  large  dining  room,  and  a  ladies' 
room,  are  on  the  ground  floor.  The  second  story 
contains  a  large  billiard  room,  library,  lounge  and 
bar.  A  goodly  number  of  magazines  and  news- 
papers from  many  cities  are  to  be  found  in  the 
library,  and  there  are  pictures  of  all  the  American 
presidents  from  Harrison  to  Wilson.  Of  these  the 
best  is  an  early  portrait  in  oil  of  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

The  decorations  consisted  of  the  national  colours 
of  the  United  States  and  of  Mexico,  and  those  of 
the  Allies.  There  were  no  speeches,  but  an  excel- 
lent dinner  was  served,  to  the  jazz  band  accom- 
paniment of  which  Americans  here  appear  as  in- 
ordinately fond  as  if  they  were  at  home.  The 
menu  was  as  nearly  American  as  possible,  begin- 
ning with  oyster  soup,  and  including  turkey,  and 
ending  with  vanilla  cream  and  coffee.  Fish  in 
Mexican  style,  and  ravioli  gave  an  exotic  touch  not 
unwelcome  to  the  gourmet  who  sat  opposite  me. 
[117] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

The  cost,  if  one  may  be  pardoned  for  satisfying 
the  curiosity  of  the  folks  at  home,  was  five  pesos  per 
plate,  approximately  $2.50,  exclusive  of  wine. 

There  were  probably  one  hundred  and  fifty  at 
dinner,  and  the  dance  which  followed  was  pro- 
longed by  the  younger  people  until  an  early  hour 
next  morning.  On  the  assumption  that  the  diners 
were  representative  of  Mexico's  American  colony, 
I  give  the  names,  some  of  which  may  be  familiar  to 
people  in  the  United  States:  George  T.  Summerlin, 
chancellor  of  the  American  embassy,  and  charge 
d'affaires  in  the  absence  of  Ambassador  Fletcher; 
Major  Robert  Campbell,  military  aide,  Henry  R. 
Carey,  M.  Elting  Hanna,  H.  L.  Sylvain  and  family, 
E.  Kirby  Smith  and  family,  C.  B.  Cleveland  and 
family,  E.  W.  Sours  and  family,  Arnold  Shanklin 
and  family,  R.  T.  Dobson  and  family,  A.  F.  Code- 
froy  and  family,  Lucien  Ruff  and  family,  W.  B. 
Stephens  and  family,  K.  M.  van  Zandt  and  family, 
C.  E.  Cummings  and  family,  W.  P.  Moats  and 
family,  C.  Bland  and  family,  Gerald  Rives  and 
family,  H.  Doorman  and  family,  H.  C.  Baldwin 
and  family,  E.  J.  Wuerpel  and  family,  F.  E.  Moore 
and  family,  J.  J.  Zahler  and  family,  J.  M.  Gal- 
braith  and  family,  C.  H.  McCullough  and  family, 
J.  C.  Van  Trease  and  family.  A  number  of  Mex- 
ican gentlemen  and  their  wives  were  also  at  the 
dinner,  and  several  representatives  of  the  diplo- 
matic corps,  including  the  French  Charge  d' Affaires, 
[118] 


MEXICO  CITY  PROSPERS 


M.  Frangois  Dejean;  Baron  Fugitaro  Otori,  the 
Japanese  minister,  and  Keicho  Ito,  of  the  Japanese 
legation. 

I  have  spoken  of  Mexico's  returning  prosperity 
as  something  underway.  I  do  not  think  I  can  be 
wrong  in  this,  for  while,  as  a  newcomer,  I  had  no 
standards  for  comparison,  I  found  a  multitude  of 
shops  which  seem  to  do  a  thriving  business,  and 
offered  for  sale  every  article  of  necessity,  of 
luxury  or  convenience  which  is  to  be  had  in  our  own 
large  cities.  I  found  the  streets  which  are  wide  and 
clean,  thronged  with  people,  of  whom  the  propor- 
tion of  the  seemingly  well-to-do  would  be  normal 
for  New  York. 

There  are  beggars,  it  is  true,  but  there  are  beg- 
gars in  all  Spanish  American  cities  with  which  I 
am  familiar,  some  even  in  American  cities  of 
Anglo-Saxon  population,  and  the  guide-books  as- 
sure us  that  street  mendicants  are  no  new  feature  of 
Mexican  life.  And  if  the  splendid  Avenida  de  la 
Reforma  which  connects  Chapultepec  park  with 
that  loveliest  of  city  parks,  the  Alameda,  shows 
fewer  automobiles  than  Fifth  Avenue,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  entire  population  of  the 
federal  district  of  which  this  city  is  the  municipality 
is  less  than  1,000,000.  The  picturesque  Indian 
with  his  sandalled  feet,  enormous  sombrero  and 
brightly  coloured  blanket  is  still  here,  but  he  has 
a  right  to  be,  for  this,  the  oldest  city  in  America, 
[119] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

was  the  capital  of  his  people  in  the  Thirteenth 
Century. 

However,  unwilling  to  trust  my  own  impressions, 
I  formulated  a  series  of  questions,  which  I  address 
to  residents  of  every  class.  Some  of  the  informa- 
tion thus  presented  I  give  in  condensed  form. 

An  American  shopkeeper:  "I  have  done  more 
business  within  the  last  two  months  than  at  any 
corresponding  period  of  the  last  six  years.  Of 
course  the  tourist  trade  was  my  mainstay,  but  I 
find  that  the  Mexicans  are  beginning  to  appreciate 
one  of  my  specialties,  handwrought  leather  goods, 
and  I  am  not  only  selling  leather  as  fast  as  my 
workmen  are  able  to  turn  it  out,  but  have  many 
orders  ahead.  I  find  a  renewed  demand  for  drawn 
work,  which  is  a  good  sign,  but  we  have  not  been 
able  in  a  long  time  to  get  any  of  the  linens  re- 
quired." 

A  Mexican  official:  "Conditions  are,  I  believe, 
steadily  improving,  but  I  believe  that  you  will  find 
very  little  ostentatious  display  of  wealth.  The 
working  people  and  the  middle  classes  are  better 
off,  and  there  is  more  money  in  circulation  than 
we  have  had  in  a  long  time.  These  things  mean 
that  we  are  beginning  to  get  results.  Wealth  is  be- 
ing more  evenly  distributed,  and  the  contrasts  be- 
tween extreme  luxury  and  dire  poverty  are  less 
striking  than  in  many  years." 

A  Spanish  hotel  proprietor:  "We  would  be 
[120] 


MEXICO  CITY  PROSPERS 


glad  to  give  you  a  room  and  bath,  especially  if  you 
expect  to  be  here  for  some  time,  but  at  present  we 
are  full  up.  A  group  of  American  visitors  has 
engaged  in  advance  every  available  room,  and  we 
can  do  nothing  for  you  until  they  depart.  It  seems 
like  old  times  to  have  so  many  tourists  from  the 
north." 

A  Canadian  banker:  "Conditions  are  easier 
than  they  have  been  for  some  time.  The  return 
of  prosperity  involves  the  return  of  confidence,  and 
I  cannot  say  that  this  is  complete,  but  I  think  we 
all  feel  a  sense  of  relief  when  we  compare  banking 
conditions  today  with  those  we  have  gone  through." 

An  American  importer:  "A  complete  under- 
standing with  the  United  States  is  the  one  thing 
essential  to  the  commercial  and  industrial  develop- 
ment of  Mexico.  When  that  has  been  arrived  at, 
you  may  expect  a  boom  in  all  lines.  Until  then, 
we  will  do  the  best  we  can,  but  the  uncertainty  of 
the  past  has  been  a  most  serious  drawback.  We 
all  want  to  know  what  Mr.  Wilson  intends  to  do,  if 
anything." 

There  are,  however,  more  hopeful  signs  of  a  re- 
turn to  better  conditions  than  are  revealed  either 
in  the  life  of  the  capital  or  the  observations  of 
men  and  women  long  resident  here. 

Of  primary  importance  I  count  the  return  of  the 
emigres.  Thousands  of  Mexicans  of  intelligence, 
wealth  and  position,  were  forced  into  exile,  or  re- 
[121] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

tired  from  the  country  of  their  own  free  will,  dur- 
ing what  the  Americans  here  refer  to  as  "week-end 
governments,"  of  which  there  was  an  all  too  rapid 
succession  until  General  Carranza  obtained  control 
of  Mexico  City. 

They  are  coming  back.  Some  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  earlier  regimes  are  here  now.  The 
Iturbides  are  here.  Passengers  with  me  on  the 
Ward  liner  Mexico  from  Havana  were  General 
Camacho,  a  former  brigadier  of  the  Rurales,  who 
had  been  in  exile  for  five  years,  and  Carlos  Rincon- 
Gallardo,  general  of  division  under  both  Diaz  and 
Huerta. 

To  return  to  mere  personal  impressions,  let  me 
describe  a  Sunday  afternoon  visit  to  the  bull  ring. 
The  Federal  Government  of  Mexico  does  not  in- 
terfere with  the  State  Governments,  except  in  cases 
of  necessity,  but  is  supreme  in  the  federal  district, 
which  corresponds  to  our  District  of  Columbia. 
President  Carranza  disapproves  bull  fights  and 
lotteries,  hence  the  lottery  has  disappeared,  and 
there  are  no  more  bull  fights  in  the  capital.  The 
bull  ring  is  a  circus  with  seating  capacity  of  20,000. 
It  has  been  used  for  opera,  and  this  afternoon  was 
the  scene  of  an  entertainment  by  Anna  Pavlowa 
and  company,  which  now  includes  as  principals 
Wlasta  Maslowa,  Alexandre  Volinine,  Hilda  But- 
zova,  with  Alexandre  Smallens,  formerly  of  the 
Boston  Opera  Company,  as  musical  director. 
[122] 


MEXICO  CITY  PROSPERS 


An  old  New  Yorker  myself,  I  shall  not  commit 
the  folly  reviewing  a  Pavlowa  performance  2400 
miles  from  Broadway,  but  will  be  content  with 
saying  that  the  bill  included  "La  Flauta  Magica" 
which  the  programatical  annotator  pointed  out  is 
the  work  of  Mario  Petipa,  of  the  Petrograd  Im- 
perial Theatre,  and  "is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  opera  of  the  same  name  by  Mozart,"  with  music 
by  Maestro  Drigo;  "Walpurgis  Night,"  Pon- 
chielli's  "Dance  of  the  Hours,"  Grieg's  "Holland 
Dance,"  Grieg's  "Anitra's  Dance,"  and  numbers 
by  Kreisler,  Lewandoswki  and  Lincke.  Possibly 
the  "Walpurgis  Night"  in  the  arrangement  by 
Ivan  Clustine  may  be  new,  and  certainly  it  is 
charming.  The  audience  to  me  was  quite  as  fasci- 
nating as  the  dancers. 

Prices  in  the  bull  ring  are  graduated  by  the  sun, 
and  fixed,  of  course,  by  the  management.  On  this 
occasion  the  cheapest  seats  were  one  and  a  half 
pesos,  the  dearest,  seven  and  a  half  pesos.  The 
cheap  seats  are  those  on  the  sunny  side,  and  the 
more  expensive,  those  in  the  shade.  Seats  in  the 
arena  were  four  pesos,  the  highest  price  being 
charged  for  the  boxes  which  encircle  the  arena. 
Mexico  City  is  a  mile  in  the  air,  and  "sol"  and 
"sombra"  mean  a  marked  difference  in  tempera- 
ture, for  at  noon  today  the  thermometer  in  my 
room  at  the  Hotel  de  Geneve  registered  65  Far.  and 
its  companion  instrument  in  the  sun  marked  110. 
[123] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Under  the  circumstances  I  took  general  admission 
in  the  "sombra,"  with  an  excellent  view  of  the  stage 
from  seats  on  the  stone  bench  about  the  middle  of 
the  auditorium.  The  acoustics  were  excellent. 

Probably  a  fifth  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  am- 
phitheatre was  cut  off  by  the  stage,  leaving  seats  for 
6,000  in  "the  bleachers,"  if  I  may  borrow  a  base- 
ball term  for  application  to  the  bullring.  All 
these  cheap  seats  were  occupied.  There  must  have 
been  more  than  4,000  more  people  in  the  shade,  in- 
cluding the  fashionable  element  in  the  boxes  and  in 
the  arena.  It  was  a  good  day  for  Anna,  and  I  can- 
not figure  how,  after  giving  the  ballet  liberal  sup- 
port for  a  long  run  at  the  Teatro  Principal,  this 
city  of  half  a  million  population  could  afford  to 
spend  15,000  to  20,000  pesos  for  an  open  air  per- 
formance unless  business  conditions  were  fairly 
good,  even  making  due  allowance  for  the  fact  that 
the  Mexicans,  like  all  Latin-American  peoples — 
like  myself — are  melomaniacs. 

A  well  dressed,  good  humoured,  highly  appre- 
ciative gathering  it  proved  to  be.  The  performance 
was  scheduled  to  begin  at  half  past  four,  but  was 
late,  and  the  people  in  "the  bleachers"  indicated 
their  impatience  by  clapping  with  a  triple  rhythmic 
beat,  and  occasional  catcalls,  just  as  we  might  do 
at  home  at  a  ball  game.  But  when  the  trumpet  call 
announced  that  the  curtain  was  about  to  be  drawn, 
[124] 


MEXICO  CITY  PROSPERS 


there  was  hearty  applause,  followed  by  complete 
silence. 

This  same  signal,  by  the  way,  is  employed  at 
bull  fights,  to  announce  that  another  bull  is  about  to 
be  brought  into  the  arena,  and  so,  after  the  inter- 
mission, the  trumpet  sounded,  some  wag  in  "the 
bleachers"  shouted  "Otro  toro!"  (another  bull)  and 
the  vast  audience  shrieked  with  laughter. 

Caruso  writes  that  he  sang  in  "Carmen"  at  a 
rainy  matinee  in  September,  to  a  $45,000  "house" ! 


[125] 


CHAPTER  EIGHT:     JOURNALISM  PAST 
AND  PRESENT 

Journalism  in  Mexico  City  has  undergone  many 
changes  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  During 
the  rule  of  Porfirio  Diaz  every  encouragement  was 
given  to  the  press.  It  was  the  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  patronize  arts  and  letters,  and  in  the  Latin 
world  the  distinction  between  journalism,  author- 
ship, and  magazine  work  is  by  no  means  finely 
drawn.  Workers  in  all  three  classes  are  grouped 
in  what  I  ventured  to  call  in  a  little  volume  of 
essays  "The  Serio-Comic  Profession." 

Don  Porfirio  asked  only  that  nothing  be  written 
against  the  Government.  The  publication  that  con- 
travened the  presidential  policy  of  optimism  disap- 
peared. And  Don  Porfirio  liked  to  see  a  foreign 
press  in  his  capital.  When  he  came  into  power 
he  found  the  Trait  d?  Union,  a  French  publication 
still  issued  under  the  name  of  Le  Courrier  du  Mex- 
ique,  which  was  established  in  1849  and  is  the 
oldest  daily  in  the  republic  today. 

He  helped  along  the  American  who  founded  the 

Two  Republics  back  in  the  Eighties,  and  looked 

with  favour  on  the  Mexican  Herald,  which  was  a 

well  written  and  thoroughly  up-to-date  American 

[126] 


JOURNALISM  PAST  AND  PRESENT 

daily,  still  much  lamented  in  Mexico.  The  Mexican 
Herald  was  a  morning  paper,  but  there  was  an 
English  afternoon  publication  called  the  Daily 
Record,  besides  an  Anglo-American  weekly. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  Diaz  administration 
there  must  have  been  nearly  250  publications  in 
the  capital,  including  trade  papers.  The  verna- 
cular press  was  headed  by  El  Impartial,  and  the 
Catholic  organ,  El  Tiempo,  the  other  dailies  being 
El  Heraldo,  El  Mundo,  El  Diario,  El  Pais,  El 
Popular,  Mexico  Nuevo,  El  Diario  del  Hogar,  and 
the  organ  of  the  Spanish  colony,  El  Correo  Espanol. 

All  of  the  publications  named  with  the  exception 
of  the  French  daily  have  vanished,  but  that  does  not 
mean  that  the  Mexicans  have  abandoned  the  pleas- 
ant and  profitable  habit  of  reading  the  daily  papers. 

Today  the  leading  Spanish  language  dailies  are 
the  five  issued  in  the  morning,  three  of  which  carry 
Associated  Press  dispatches,  and  appear  to  have 
well  organized  reportorial  and  editorial  staffs,  and 
correspondents  in  all  the  important  Mexican  cities. 
Most  of  them  also  maintain  branch  offices  in  New 
York  and  in  Spain.  They  are: 

El  Universal,  now  in  its  fourth  year,  and  edited 
by  Felix  F.  Palavicini.  This  is  an  independent 
newspaper  having  eight  pages  in  its  weekly  day 
editions,  and  Sunday  supplements. 

Excelsior,  now  in  its  third  year,  and  edited  by 
Rafael  Alducin,  El  Universal9 s  chief  rival.  It  is 
[127] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

well  written,  newsy,  and  disposed  to  be  friendly 
to  the  United  States. 

La  Republica,  edited  by  Heriberto  Barren,  is  sup- 
posed to  be  owned  by  M.  Aguirre  Berlanga,  whose 
candidacy  for  the  presidency  is  referred  to  else- 
where. It  has  taken  over  the  greater  part  of  the 
staff  and  equipment  of  El  Pueblo,  the  government 
organ,  which  discontinued  publication  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1919.  El  Pueblo,  by  the  way,  was  an 
excellent  paper  of  its  type.  The  editor  was 
Gregorio  A.  Velasquez. 

El  Heraldo  is  the  personal  organ  of  General 
Salvador  Alvarado,  another  presidential  candidate. 
Alvarado  is  as  much  at  home  in  a  newspaper  office 
as  a  bull  in  a  china  shop,  and  his  startling  indiscre- 
tion in  attacking  his  country  and  its  Government 
during  an  international  crisis  is  not  likely  to  be 
forgotten  soon,  either  in  Mexico  or  the  United 
States. 

The  fifth  morning  daily  is  El  Democrata,  which 
was  rabidly  anti-American  and  notoriously  pro- 
German  during  the  war.  It  is  in  its  fifth  year,  and 
is  directed  by  Federico  de  la  Colina.  A  change  of 
management  has  been  announced  since  the  signing 
of  the  armistice.  Its  dispatches  are  furnished  by 
"The  Spanish  American  News  Agency,"  with  head- 
quarters in  New  York. 

The  much  lamented  Mexican  Herald  moved  from 
the  capital  to  Vera  Cruz  on  the  occupation  of  that 
[128] 


JOURNALISM  PAST  AND  PRESENT 

port  by  American  forces.  It  did  not  come  back. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  the  combined  American  and 
English  colonies  in  Mexico  City  now  have  suffi- 
cient numerical  or  financial  strength  to  support  an 
English  daily,  so  Le  Courrier  du  Mexique  began 
the  publication  of  an  English  section  recently,  and 
will  continue,  and  enlarge  this  department,  if  it 
meets  with  proper  support,  and  the  Spanish  dailies 
have  English  sections. 

The  afternoon  newspapers  are  numerous  but  un- 
important. Conspicuous  among  them  are  A.  B.  C.9 
a  frank  imitation  of  the  Spanish  publication  of  the 
same  name,  and  La  Nacion,  which  aims  to  be  dis- 
tinctively Mexican. 

New  weeklies  of  the  cheaper  type  are  constantly 
being  born  and  dying  of  inanition.  Usually  they 
are  devoted  either  to  a  personality  which  lacks  a 
following  or  to  a  "cause"  which  declines  to  support 
it.  A  specimen  is  "The  Voice  of  Misery"  ("La 
Voz  de  Miseria"),  which  modestly  admits  that  it 
speaks  for  the  labour  interests  of  the  republic.  The 
first  issue  was  on  March  1,  1919.  Then  there  is 
a  little  handbill  in  Spanish  which  professes  to  speak 
for  the  Bolshevik  movement,  although  Linn  A.  Gale 
makes  the  same  claim  for  his  English  "journal  of 
the  new  civilization,"  which  bears  his  name. 

President  Carranza  allows  the  widest  latitude  to 
publications  in  the  republic,  and  apparently  does 
not  object  to  sensational  attacks  either  on  himself, 
[129] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

his  officials  or  his  policies.  He  realizes  the  value 
of  an  intelligent  press,  but  is  disposed  to  show  his 
contempt  for  "yellow  journalism"  in  Mexico  by 
ignoring  it.  At  any  rate,  things  are  tolerated  in 
print  which  would  not  have  been  permitted  under 
the  older  regime.  That  does  not  mean,  however, 
that  President  Carranza  is  equally  disposed  to  over- 
look misrepresentation  on  the  part  of  foreign  cor- 
respondents here. 

Press  matter  is  filed  in  triplicate  if  addressed  to 
foreign  countries,  and  one  copy  goes  to  the  censor. 

There  is  what  is  known  as  the  Law  of  33  by  which 
the  chief  magistrate  is  empowered  to  expel  from 
the  territory  of  the  republic  any  objectionable 
foreigner,  without  explaining  his  reason  for  so  do- 
ing, and  without  recourse  for  the  individual  "thirty- 
threed."  This  fate  has  befallen  many  "periodistas 
norteamericanos,"  and  may  again. 

"The  Government  is  not  concerned  at  the  trans- 
mission of  ordinary  newspaper  matter,  or  personal 
gossip,"  a  Mexican  official  said  to  me.  "We 
realize  the  difficulty  of  securing  accuracy  of  in- 
formation at  all  times,  and  make  due  allowance 
for  the  instinct  which  leads  a  man  to  send  out  a  good 
story  without  too  much  investigation.  But  we  see 
no  cause  for  the  toleration  either  of  stupidity  or 
malice.  A  first  offence  in  either  direction  is  over- 
looked, but  if  a  second  and  third  follow  without 
an  appreciable  interval — "Thirty-three." 
[130] 


JOURNALISM  PAST  AND  PRESENT 

After  all,  not  such  a  bad  law,  and  one  which 
would  have  been  extremely  useful  in  the  United 
States  during  the  war. 

The  astonishing  thing  to  me  about  the  Mexican 
daily  press  as  represented  in  the  capital  is  its  ex- 
cellence. Newspaper  men  will  admit  that  it  is 
more  difficult  to  publish  the  news  in  brief  compass 
than  in  a  blanket  sheet,  and  the  average  size  of  a 
Mexican  daily  is  eight  pages. 

Each  paper  must  maintain  a  large  enough  staff 
to  cover  the  official  news,  and  all  the  departmental 
sources  of  information  of  the  local  as  well  as  the 
federal  Government.  There  is  no  city  press  service. 
Each  paper  must  maintain  its  editorial  writers, 
critics,  and  desk  editors,  as  with  us.  But  the  As- 
sociated Press  dispatches  are  received  in  English, 
and  must  be  translated.  That  means  fast  work. 
The  fact  is,  as  soon  as  a  piece  of  telegraph  is  re- 
ceived it  goes  to  the  translation  department,  con- 
sisting of  a  chief  and  two  or  three  men,  and  by 
the  time  the  last  sheet  of  "copy"  is  turned  in  by 
the  operator,  all  the  rest  of  the  dispatch  has  been 
translated  and  put  into  type. 

Linotypes  and  modern  presses  are  the  rule. 
There  is  a  weakness  for  illustrations  and  large 
headlines,  but  news  judgment  appears  to  be  sound, 
and  the  dailies,  considered  by  and  large,  are  clean, 
well  written,  and  well  printed. 

At  a  staff  dinner  given  by  El  Universal  where 
[131] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

I  was  a  guest,  I  counted  at  least  four  women  em- 
ployes, and  was  told  there  were  others  who  con- 
tributed regularly,  so  here  is  one  profession,  at 
least,  open  to  Mexican  women  of  the  higher  classes. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  make  a  complete  survey 
of  Mexico's  provincial  press,  but  the  newspapers 
examined  reflect  the  influence  of  the  newspapers 
in  the  capital  precisely  as  the  French  provincial 
newspapers  do  that  of  the  Parisian  dailies.  It  is 
rather  startling,  however,  to  note  that  Tampico  is 
about  to  have  an  English  daily. 

Volume  4,  No.  9  of  the  Tampico  Tribune,  which 
is  dated  March  1,  1919,  says: 

"A  daily  newspaper  such  as  Tampico  is  entitled 
to  have  and  which  we  shall  endeavour  to  supply, 
must  have  a  complete  telegraphic  news  service, 
capable  of  competing  with  the  Texas  daily  news- 
papers coming  here,  and  those  from  Mexico  City. 
It  must  have  a  competent  staff  of  experienced  news- 
paper men  to  handle  the  news  and  to  report 
thoroughly  and  accurately  the  events  of  the  city 
in  which  its  readers  are  interested.  This  has  been 
provided  for.  .  .  .  The  date  of  issue  cannot  yet  be 
announced  but  it  will  be  as  soon  as  arrangements 
now  being  made  are  completed." 


[132] 


CHAPTER  NINE:    MEXICO'S  NATIONAL 
SCHOOL  OF  ART 

Mexico  has  developed  a  national  school  of  art 
in  a  double  sense,  as  the  tourist  may  find,  possibly 
to  his  surprise,  certainly  to  his  delight,  on  visiting 
the  capital  of  the  republic.  Guide  books,  of 
course,  refer  to  it,  but  in  matters  of  art,  seeing  is 
believing,  and  it  apparently  has  remained  for  me 
to  bring  back  to  America  tangible  proof  in  the  way 
of  photographs,  some  of  which  illustrate  this  book. 

Mexicans,  whether  of  Indian,  Spanish  or  mixed 
blood,  have  always  possessed  the  art  creative  in- 
stinct. Temple  decorations  and  grotesque  pottery 
of  the  prehistoric  period,  the  latter  revealing  first 
an  Egyptian,  later  a  Mongolian  influence,  show 
craftsmanship  of  no  mean  order,  and  the  picture 
writings  of  the  Aztecs  are  hardly  inferior  to  the 
illuminations  on  monkish  manuscripts  of  contem- 
poraneous moyen-age  Europe.  A  striking  example 
may  be  seen  in  the  map  of  ancient  Tenochtitlan 
which  hangs  in  the  National  Museum,  and  might 
almost  serve  as  an  outline  chart  for  the  Mexico 
City  of  today,  so  little  has  the  topography  changed. 
Montezuma's  Palace  and  the  Great  Teocalli  oc- 
cupied the  sites  of  the  present  National  Palace  and 
[133] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Cathedral,  and  there  is  a  mound,  clearly  drawn  and 
with  careful  attention  to  distance  which  is  unmis- 
takably Chapultepec,  now  crowned  as  then  by  the 
summer  residence  of  the  ruler  of  the  land,  and  in- 
dicated by  the  Aztec  cartographer  by  a  perfectly 
drawn  grasshopper,  Chapultepec  meaning  in  the 
not  yet  extinct  Nahuatl  tongue,  "grasshopper  hill." 
Perhaps  the  vivid  colours  with  which  Nature  has 
painted  the  Mexican  landscape,  the  translucent  at- 
mosphere, and  the  intense  brilliancy  of  the  sun- 
light may  have  been  the  inspiration  of  all  the  races 
that  have  lived  on  the  Mexican  plateau,  but  the  love 
of  line  and  colour  persists  in  the  today  in  the  com- 
monest blanket,  the  crudest  pottery  of  native  fabri- 
cation. 

In  the  wake  of  the  Conquistadores  came  the 
Padres,  and  with  them  a  passion  for  church  build- 
ing so  intense  that  in  a  single  district  of  Puebla  with 
not  more  than  5,000  inhabitants  there  are  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  religious  edifices  ...  all 
of  which  may  be  counted  with  the  aid  of  a  field 
glass  from  the  pyramid  of  Cholula,  even  now  a 
place  of  pilgrimage  because  of  the  shrine  which 
surmounts  it.  With  the  multiplication  of  churches 
and  convents  grew  the  need  of  sacred  paintings  and 
holy  images  with  which  to  adorn  them.  The 
church  fostered  and  controlled  a  school  of  native 
artists  .  .  .  mere  copyists,  most  of  them  .  .  . 
whose  work  is  still  preserved  from  the  Rio  Grande 
[134] 


SAN  JERONIMO 
By  J.  Gutierrez 


MEXICO'S  NATIONAL  SCHOOL  OF  ART 

to  the  borders  of  Guatemala.  It  gave  them  new 
ideas  of  perspective,  of  realism,  and  sound  pig- 
ments; nor  did  it  discourage  the  imaginative 
faculty,  although  it  prescribed  the  realm  in  which  it 
might  range  to  its  own  precincts.  Best  of  all,  it 
set  before  the  painter  some  excellent  examples  of 
the  best  European  art,  for  the  church  speedily 
grew  rich  in  the  New  World,  and  Flemish,  Spanish 
and  Italian  art  was  too  pious  a  luxury  to  be  deemed 
extravagant. 

Laymen,  too,  imported  many  pictures  and  much 
statuary.  Students  of  Murillo  will  remember  that 
in  his  youth  that  master  was  seized  with  the  desire 
to  travel.  Investing  his  small  capital  in  a  bolt  of 
canvas,  he  cut  it  into  convenient  pieces,  covered  each 
with  paint,  and  selling  these  pot-boilers  to  the  West 
India  export  trade  set  forth  upon  his  journey. 
Doubtless  Valasquez,  fashionable  as  a  court  painter, 
fared  better  in  a  financial  way  in  his  dealings  with 
Spanish  military  and  civil  officials  in  Mexico,  but 
until  long  after  the  end  of  the  Colonial  Period, 
Mexican  art  was  almost  wholly  ecclesiastical. 
Nothing,  in  fact,  of  a  distinctly  national  character, 
developed  until  the  reform  laws  became  effective  in 
1860,  whereby  civil  government  was  disassociated 
from  the  church,  a  vast  amount  of  church  property 
sequestered,  and  public  education  made  a  function 
of  the  state. 

Churches,  public  buildings,  the  homes  of  wealthy 
[135] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

haciendados  house  thousands  of  these  religious 
paintings,  many  of  them  unsigned,  like  the  superb 
"Santa  Cecilia,"  which  some  of  my  friends  find  sug- 
gestive of  Guido,  and  which  may,  indeed,  prove  to 
be  a  faithful  copy  of  some  European  masterpiece. 

But  the  earliest  of  Mexico's  painters  were 
Spanish,  not  Mexican.  Thus  Baltazar  de  Echave, 
"el  Viejo,"  called  "the  Mexican  Titian,"  had 
formed  his  style  in  Venice,  before  settling  in  Mexico 
about  1590.  And  Sebastien  Arteaga,  a  notary  of 
the  Holy  Office,  who  shares  with  Echave  the  fore- 
most place  among  earlier  Mexican  artists,  had  also 
studied  in  Italy  before  sailing  for  America.  Of 
his  many  works,  which  vary  greatly  in  quality  "Los 
Deposorios  de  la  Virgen"  (the  betrothal  of  Mary) 
is,  I  think,  the  most  beautiful,  although  a  Zurburan 
quality  is  so  frequently  encountered  in  his  paintings 
that  Zurburan's  "El  Castillo  de  Emmaus,"  valued 
at  $150,000,  was  long  attributed  to  him.  It  is 
precisely  this  criticism  of  Arteaga  that  the  admiring 
student  will  apply  to  most  of  the  Mexican  painters 
prior  to  1860.  All  show  some  European  influence, 
if  not  of  an  individual  master-painter,  then  of  a 
school,  or  of  the  church  or  the  church's  preferred 
artists. 

Dating  the  Renaissance  of  Mexican  art  from 
1860,  one  notes  the  turning  away  from  religious  to- 
ward  purely  national   subjects,   or  those   having 
historical  or  artistic  significance. 
[136] 


MEXICO'S  NATIONAL  SCHOOL  OF  ART 

Thus  Rodrigo  Gutierrez  devoted  a  large  compo- 
sition to  the  memorable  session  of  the  Senate  of 
Tlaxcala,  August,  1519,  when  the  Cacique  Xico- 
tencatl  swayed  the  Tlaxcalan  nation  to  attack  Her- 
nando  Cortes,  although  the  Spanish  adventurer 
was  making  war  upon  their  ancient  enemy,  Mon- 
tezuma,  and  had  asked  permission  to  march  un- 
molested through  the  republic's  territory.  Surely 
the  painter  has  seized  upon  a  dramatic  moment! 
Aside  from  the  boldness  with  which  the  actors  are 
represented,  one  cannot  help  being  impressed  with 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  younger  leaders  for  war, 
while  at  least  one  of  the  older  leaders  of  the 
council  appears  to  be  still  doubtful  of  the  issue. 
An  antiquarian  friend  assures  me  that  Tlaxcalan 
costumes  and  furnishings  have  been  reproduced  to 
the  minutest  detail,  and  that  the  painter  sought  his 
models  among  the  descendants  of  these  ancient 
republicans. 

"The  Courtyard  of  an  Old  House,"  by  Jimenez, 
is  drawn  with  such  nicety  as  to  be  almost  photo- 
graphic. The  colouring  is  subdued  for  the  most 
part,  notwithstanding  the  strong  light  in  which  the 
small  girl  is  playing  with  her  pigeon. 

"Othello,"  by  Gonzalez  Pineda,  seemed  to  have 
been  studied  from  Salvini's  famous  impersonation 
of  the  Moor  which  would  possibly  have  been  fa- 
miliar to  the  painter.  That,  at  any  rate,  is  the 
opinion  of  John  Rariken  Towse,  the  dean  of  New 
[137] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

York's  dramatic  critics,  to  whom  this  photograph 
suggested  delightful  reminiscences.  Pineda,  while 
following  tradition  as  to  the  Venetian  colours  of 
Desdemona,  has  declined  to  ascribe  a  negroid  type 
to  the  unfortunate  Moor,  but  gives  him  both  in 
cranial  formation  and  in  a  warmly  tinted  skin 
purely  Arab  characteristics. 

"The  Valley  of  Mexico,"  which  according  to  the 
much  travelled  Bayard  Taylor,  is  second  only  to 
that  of  Cashmere  in  loveliness,  fascinated  Jose  M. 
Velasco  to  such  an  extent  that  he  devoted  at  least 
three  large  paintings  to  it.  In  charm  and  delicacy 
of  colour,  and  in  the  courageous  fidelity  with  which 
he  depicts  so  extended  a  view,  they  are  difficult  to 
choose  from.  That  reproduced  here  only  seems 
best  for  photographic  purposes.  The  volcanoes 
of  Iztaccihuatl  and  Popocatepetl  which  rear  their 
crests  in  the  background  were  some  thirty  miles 
from  the  painter's  easel. 

Soto's  "Ahuehuetas  de  Chapultepec,"  apart  from 
its  value  as  a  fine  piece  of  landscape  painting,  will 
be  of  interest  to  students  of  natural  history  because 
the  trees  are  the  sole  survivors  of  the  immense 
tropical  forest  which  flourished  in  the  Valley  of 
Mexico  before  the  climate  cooled  to  its  present  tem- 
perate average. 

A  fascinating  historical  study  is  the  painting  by 
Pelegrin  Clave,  who  was  born  in  1872,  representing 
the  last  days  of  Isabel  de  Portugal. 
[138] 


OTHELLO 

By  Gonzalez  Pineda 


MEXICO'S  NATIONAL  SCHOOL  OF  ART 

The  San  Jeronimo  of  J.  Gutierrez  is  a  modern  in- 
stance of  devotion  to  religious  subjects,  justified  by 
careful  drawing  of  a  striking  pose,  excessive  care 
in  the  treatment  of  details,  and  a  fine  sense  of 
colour. 

The  "auto-retrato"  of  German  Gedovius  is  not 
only  a  clever  bit  of  self -portraiture,  but  an  example 
of  racial  fidelity  to  type.  However  much  he  may 
look  like  a  Spanish  cavalier  of  the  older  ages, 
Gedovius  is  one  of  the  professors  in  the  Nacional 
Academia. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  these 
paintings,  selected  as  being  representative  of  a 
distinctly  national  and  Mexican  school  of  art,  alike 
as  they  are  in  microscopic  brush-work,  careful  at- 
tention to  detail,  and  an  uncommon  sense  of 
colour  values,  are  the  best  or  the  only  ones  worth 
seeing.  There  are  dozens  of  painters,  as  proved 
by  scores  of  pictures,  well  worth  the  attention  of 
the  art  loving  visitor  in  Mexico. 

Nor  is  modern  Mexican  art  exclusively  national. 
No  new  movement  abroad  has  been  without  its  re- 
action in  Mexico.  Thus  one  will  be  reminded  that 
Beardsley  lived,  that  Zuloaga  and  Sorolla  painted, 
that  Goya  and  Zamacois  are  no  more  to  be  ignored 
than  Murillo  and  Velasquez.  Traces  of  impres- 
sionism and  post-impressionism  is  there.  The 
futurist  ...  but  no,  I  am  not  sure  that  the  cubists 
have  reached  Mexico  as  yet. 
[139] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

As  an  example  of  broad  brush-work  and  the 
occasional  use  of  a  palette  knife,  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  present  "La  Ofrenda,"  by  Saturnino  Her- 
ran,  who  died  last  year,  a  youth  of  promise  and  of 
ultra-modern  proclivities.  It  represents  a  family 
group  in  one  of  the  boats  which  ply  the  canals  of 
Xochimilco,  providing  the  City  of  Mexico  with 
fruits  and  flowers,  and  affording  a  pleasant  outing 
to  the  tourist. 

I  spoke  of  Mexico  having  developed  a  national 
school  of  art  in  a  double  sense.  Perhaps  I  have 
proved  the  existence  of  real  painters  in  that  lovely 
and  much  abused  land,  which  is  the  main  purpose 
of  this  little  essay,  but  now,  prepare  to  be  startled. 
There  are  1,400  students  in  the  National  Art 
School  in  Mexico  City,  devoting  their  time  under 
competent  instruction  to  painting,  statuary  and 
architecture.  And  I  doubt  if  our  own  Art 
Students'  League  contains  a  finer  or  more  ambitious 
lot  of  youngsters.  The  Academia  de  los  Nobles 
Artes  de  San  Carlos  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  was 
founded  in  1778  by  Charles  III  of  Spain,  and  took 
possession  of  its  present  home,  back  of  the  National 
Palace,  in  1791.  Like  the  national  conservatories 
of  music  and  declamation,  it  is  a  government  insti- 
tution, and  removed  from  political  influences,  not- 
withstanding that  fact. 

There  is  a  superb  patio,  containing  an  excellent 
selection  of  antique  casts,  useful  for  the  student  to 
[140] 


MEXICO'S  NATIONAL  SCHOOL  OF  ART 

work  from,  and  the  galleries  display  good  speci- 
mens of  the  master  painters  of  Europe,  and  a  suffi- 
ciently large  collection  of  the  works  of  Mexican 
painters  to  cover  the  entire  history  of  the  subject 
from  the  earliest  period,  that  of  the  Conquest,  to 
date.  Taken  in  connection  with  the  historical 
paintings  preserved  in  the  National  Museum,  only 
a  few  steps  away,  the  collection  is  ample  for  all  the 
needs  of  the  student  until  such  genius  has  been 
displayed  as  should,  in,  every  part  of  the  world, 
bring  the  award  of  a  prix  de  Rome.  There  is 
everything  to  please  the  eye  and  instruct  the  mind. 
The  one  thing  lacking  to  Mexican  art  is  the  kind 
of  appreciation  which  manifests  itself  in  money. 
One  of  Mexico's  greatest  painters,  Luis  Monroy, 
died  this  year.  He  had  been  obliged  to  follow  the 
legal  profession  to  gain  the  living  which  the  world 
owed  him  for  his  art. 


[141] 


CHAPTER  TEN:    A  STUDY  IN  MELOMANIA 

There  are  few  tall  buildings  in  the  Mexican 
capital,  but  in  one  of  them,  at  la.  Calle  Nuevo 
Mexico  No.  6,  is  the  office  of  Maestro  Julian  Car- 
rillo.  From  his  windows  on  the  fifth  floor  we 
looked  across  flat  roofs  where  women  were  hang- 
ing out  the  family  wash  toward  a  massive  pile  of 
white  marble  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Alameda. 

"Some  day  that  building  will  be  finished,"  said 
Carrillo,  "and  then  Mexican  composers  will  come 
into  their  own.  Operas  which  exist  in  manuscript, 
symphonies,  all  will  be  heard.  But  when  will  it  be 
finished?  Who  knows?" 

"Fortunately  I  do,"  I  said,  "and  I  am  glad  to 
be  the  bearer  of  good  news.  President  Carranza 
told  me  yesterday  that  he  was  resolved  to  complete 
the  interior  of  the  Nacional  Opera  before  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  office.  He  would  not 
promise,  he  said,  to  carry  into  effect  the  whole  of 
the  decorative  scheme,  but  he  realized  the  need  of 
an  auditorium  for  music  and  drama  of  the  highest 
class,  and  as  two-thirds  of  the  estimated  cost  of 
12,000,000  pesos  had  been  spent  already,  he  con- 
sidered it  good  business  to  convert  a  property  now 
useless  into  a  producer  of  revenue." 
[142] 


A  STUDY  IN  MELOMANIA 


Carrillo  smiled  expansively,  and  remarked  that 
he  was  now  at  work  on  his  third  symphony.  I 
fancy  this  work  will  be  ready  for  a  public  hearing 
by  the  time  the  Nacional  Opera  is  thrown  open  to 
the  public,  that  the  news  will  have  a  stimulating 
effect  on  other  Mexican  tone  poets,  and  that  gentle- 
manly managers  in  divers  music  centres  on  both 
sides  of  the  great  pond  will  look  longingly  toward 
the  time  when  music  drama  can  be  adequately 
staged  in  this  music-mad  capital.  True  there  is  to 
be  a  short  season  of  opera  when  Lent  ends,  but 
opera  in  an  ordinary  theatre  is  quite  different  from 
opera  in  an  opera  house,  and  Mexicans  hope  their 
new  temple  of  art  will  be  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
world.  Certainly  it  will  be  the  largest  in  the  three 
Americas. 

I  had  gone  to  Carrillo  seeking  information  as  to 
the  training  of  the  military  bands  which  give  public 
concerts  in  all  the  larger  cities  of  the  republic. 
One  in  Vera  Cruz,  one  in  Guadalajara,  one  in 
Puebla,  and  three  in  Mexico  City  had  demonstrated 
such  astonishingly  uniform  excellence  as  to  arouse 
my  curiosity.  The  brasses  were  mellow,  the  wood- 
winds smooth,  and  the  leaders  none  of  them  mere 
time  beaters,  although  of  course,  differing  widely 
both  as  to  temperament  and  ability. 

As  New  Yorkers  may  have  forgotten  Carrillo's 
attempt  to  found  an  "American  Orchestra"  here  in 
1915,  it  may  be  well  to  remind  them  that  he  speaks 
[143] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

with  authority,  having  been  president  of  the  In- 
ternational Music  Congress  held  in  Rome  in  1911, 
that  he  was  at  one  time  director  of  the  Mexican 
National  Conservatory,  and  that  he  was  concert- 
meister  in  Leipsic  under  Arthur  Nikisch.  Back 
in  Mexico  after  many  years  in  other  lands,  he 
teaches  violin  and  composition,  writes  technical 
works  on  theory  which  are  issued  by  Schirmer  for 
Spanish  American  countries,  and  gives  what  leisure 
he  has  to  original  work. 

Mexican  bands,  Carrillo  affirms,  owe  their  ex- 
cellence to  two  things:  careful  preliminary  training 
of  the  musicians  in  the  conservatories,  of  which 
there  are  now  two  instead  of  one;  and  unremitting 
labour  at  rehearsals.  He  does  not  claim  that  the 
personnel  of  the  bands  is  really  higher  than  in 
other  countries,  but  he  insists  that  elsewhere,  and 
especially  in  the  United  States,  not  enough  time  is 
devoted  to  rehearsals,  and  that  where  orchestras  are 
abundant  there  is  a  tendency  to  look  down  upon 
military  bands,  and  to  relegate  to  them  only  the  so- 
called  popular  music.  He  deplores  the  pride  of  the 
musician  who  thinks  it  beneath  his  dignity  to  direct 
or  compose  for  a  military  band,  and  says  that  every 
conservatory  pupil  should  be  made  to  study  a  band 
instrument. 

An  enthusiast  on  bands? 

Well  rather. 

The  fact  is  that  the  average  military  band  in  the 
[144] 


A  STUDY  IN  MELOMANIA 


United  States  would  not  think  of  attempting  the 
programs  which  are  given  here.  Popular  marches, 
an  occasional  overture,  ragtime  and  jazz  certainly, 
but  not  the  symphonies  of  Beethoven,  which  are  a 
feature  of  Sunday  morning  performances  in  the 
Alameda.  Naturally  the  Police  Band  fails  to  pro- 
duce the  effect  of  the  Philharmonic,  the  Symphony 
Society,  the  Bostonians,  or  even  the  minor  sym- 
phony orchestras,  but  the  adaptations  are  good,  the 
educational  value  is  immense,  and  the  bands  suffice 
to  keep  alive  the  sacred  fires  until  in  the  good  times 
that  are  coming,  orchestral  concerts  and  chamber 
music  will  cease  to  be  a  rare  treat. 

Lately  Mexico  has  heard  an  annual  series  of 
twelve  concerts  by  the  Nacional  Orchestra,  but  the 
Beethoven  Orchestra,  of  which  much  was  expected, 
has  disbanded,  and  concerts  of  string  quartette  are 
to  be  listened  to  only  in  the  conservatories. 

The  oldest  of  these  institutions,  the  Conservatorio 
Nacional  de  Musica  y  Declamacion,  is  housed  in  an 
ancient  palace  which  once  belonged  to  the  Univer- 
sity of  Mexico,  not  far  from  the  Plaza  de  la  Con- 
stitucion,  and  facing  one  side  of  the  Palacio  Na- 
cional. There  is  an  immense  patio,  with  offices 
and  class  rooms  opening  upon  the  ground  floor  and 
balcony,  and  a  teaching  staff  for  all  branches  of 
musical  and  dramatic  art  and  literature.  The 
pupils  number  200.  The  Free  Conservatory, 
organized  some  years  ago  after  a  disagreement  in 
[145] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

the  faculty  of  the  older  school,  maintains  separate 
quarters  and  staff,  and  trains  400  pupils.  Both 
conservatories  are  subsidized  by  a  grant  from  the 
Government,  and  both  are  apparently  doing  good 
work. 

Mexico's  earliest  musicians,  it  need  hardly  be 
said,  were  chiefly  concerned  with  church  music, 
but  in  course  of  time  a  school  of  national  com- 
posers has  grown  up,  including  many  writers  of 
dance  music  and  songs,  and  some  few  men  who 
have  composed  in  the  larger  forms.  Among  the 
best  known  musicians  who  have  written  serious 
works  may  be  named  Milesio  Morales,  Ricardo 
Castro,  Felipe  Villanueva,  Gustavo  Campa,  Manuel 
Ponce,  Rafael  Jello,  and  Arnulfo  Viramonte. 

Of  Maestro  Carrillo,  I  may  say  in  parting,  that 
he  is  the  most  distinctively  American  composer  I 
have  ever  encountered,  being  in  fact  a  full  blooded 
American  Indian,  a  native  of  the  State  of  San  Luis 
Potosi.  Like  most  cosmopolites  he  is  fond  of 
New  York,  and  may  return  for  a  visit  within  a 
year  or  so. 


[146] 


CHAPTER  ELEVEN:     BANDITS  AND 
BOLSHEVIKI 

"There  is  no.  danger  of  the  Bolshevik  movement 
gaming  headway  in  Mexico,"  a  distinguished  Mex- 
ican official  said  to  me.  "Bolshevism  is  an  in- 
ternation  disease  which  must  wear  itself  out,  and 
which  is  highly  contagious. 

"Poor  Mexico!  How  the  world  pitied  us  when 
our  disorder  first  broke  out.  It  was  the  first  mani- 
festation of  the  international  epidemic,  all  our 
friends  thought  we  were  very  sick  indeed,  and 
some  went  so  far  as  to  prepare  obituaries.  We 
felt  pretty  badly,  too,  there's  no  denying  it,  but 
now  Mexico  is  convalescent,  and  we  all  realize  that 
we  were  fortunate  in  having  a  very  mild  attack. 
And  now  we  are  immune,  and  glad  of  it. 

"Look  at  Russia,  for  example.  There  is  the  in- 
ternational disease  in  its  acute  form — smallpox 
where  we  had  only  varioloid.  In  fact  I  think  that 
in  Mexico  we  had  only  a  bad  case  of  measles." 

Certain  it  is  that  Mexico's  revolution  began  in 
bloodshed,  and  that  pacification  has  been  gradual; 
while  to  the  contrary,  Russia's  revolution  began  with 
the  peaceful  abdication  of  the  Czar,  and  soon 
evolved  into  a  region  of  terror,  of  which  the  end  is 
not  yet  in  sight. 

[147] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  in  Mexico 
that  the  Bolshevik  movement  was  encouraged  there, 
as  in  Russia,  by  German  gold — of  common  knowl- 
edge because  El  Universal  published  the  whole 
record  of  slimy  German  propaganda  in  detail,  with 
verification  from  the  papers  of  the  German  minister, 
Von  Eckardt. 

Naturally  the  series  of  articles  in  this  expose  at- 
tracted wide-spread  interest  throughout  Mexico,  and 
brought  down  upon  the  newspaper  publishing  them 
and  upon  its  editor,  bitter  denunciations  from  the 
men  and  the  interests  involved.  So  sure  was  he  of 
his  facts  and  of  the  proof  behind  them  that  Felix 
F.  Palavicini  would  reprint  in  El  Universal  the 
most  eloquent  of  these  attacks,  usually  without 
comment. 

To  be  successful  a  Bolshevist  movement  must 
have  the  support  of  a  large  part  of  the  masses, 
since  it  is  evident  that  if  both  aristocracy  and  bour- 
geoisie are  destroyed,  only  the  proletariat  remains. 
Now  the  proletariat  of  Mexico  is  eminently  pacific. 
It  will  work  if  compelled  to,  or  if  in  the  humour; 
but  it  is  easily  fed,  housed,  amused;  and  it  prefers 
to  sit  in  the  sun  and  smoke  cigarettes  and  drink 
pulque  to  getting  excited  about  the  rights  of  man. 
Or  if  the  day  is  hot  it  prefers  to  sit  in  the  shade  and 
drink  pulque  and  smoke  cigarettes. 

The  Mexican  proletariat  never  heard  of  Karl 
Marx.  It  doesn't  know  the  difference  between 
[148] 


BANDITS  AND  BOLSHEVIKI 


Tolstoi  and  Vodka,  and  doesn't  wish  to.  The  Mex- 
ican proletariat  doesn't  read  much.  It  can't. 
That  was  the  fault  of  Don  Porfirio  Diaz,  who  had  a 
whole  generation  in  which  to  educate  the  lower 
classes,  but  didn't  think  they  were  worth  it. 

The  part  of  the  Mexican  proletariat  in  the  revo- 
lutions which  have  so  often  convulsed  the  country 
has  been  about  as  important  as  that  of  an  army 
mule.  Most  of  the  time  he  has  been  forced  into 
the  army,  and  usually  he  has  been  glad  to  get  out 
again. 

The  ruling  classes  have  coaxed  him  with  patriotic 
speech,  and  threatened  him  with  divers  punishments 
to  keep  him  fighting,  and  the  analogy  will  be 
stronger  to  any  one  who  has  heard  a  mule  driver's 
monologue  anywhere  in  Spanish  America. 

As  long  as  the  mule  pursues  his  course  with  suf- 
ficient "get  up  and  git,"  he  is  my  darling,  my  angel, 
the  son  of  a  happy  mother,  and  of  a  family  blessed 
with  many  gallant  brothers  and  virtuous  sisters. 
But  let  the  mule  balk,  and  he  is  assured  that  he  is 
bound  for  perdition,  and  that  his  entire  family  con- 
nection are  of  a  most  undesirable  kind. 

Mind  you,  I  write  of  the  proletariat  of  Mexico 
of  today  and  yesterday,  going  back  to  the  rule  of 
Montezuma.  Of  the  future  I  am  not  so  certain. 
Mr.  Carranza's  Government  is  undertaking  to  open 
all  the  wisdom  of  the  world  to  the  proletariat 
through  the  public  schools,  and  the  time  is  coming 
[149] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

when  every  Mexican  boy  and  girl  will  be  able  to 
read  and  write.  Still  the  day  when  Mexico  can 
be  interested  in  political  theories  learned  out  of 
books  is  at  least  fifteen  years  in  the  future,  when  it 
may  be  hoped  that  Bolshevism  will  have  burned 
itself  out. 

Mexico,  in  fact,  is  just  arrived  at  the  stage  when 
it  can  take  up  the  matter  of  collective  bargaining 
between  labour  and  capital.  It  doubtless  will  have 
a  progressive  experience  with  unionism,  guided  and 
aided  by  the  Government.  But  it  seems  perfectly 
plain  that  Bolshevism  can  have  no  growth  unless 
it  is  supported  either  by  the  Government,  the  church, 
or  the  opposition  to  the  Government. 

Enemies  of  Mr.  Carranza  denounce  the  new  con- 
stitution as  a  Bolshevik  instrument,  although  a  two 
years'  test  has  thus  far  failed  to  justify  them.  Bol- 
shevik publications,  in  English  as  well  as  Spanish, 
are  permitted,  but  that  is  apparently  because  the 
Government  makes  a  fetich  of  "liberty  of  the  press." 

A  Bolshevik  organization  in  the  State  of  Vera 
Cruz  sought  to  bolster  itself  up  in  the  opinion  of  the 
public  by  electing  to  honourary  membership  Gen- 
eral of  Division  Candido  Aguilar.  Aguilar  de- 
clined in  language  which  made  it  plain  that  he 
detests  anything  that  has  to  do  with  Bolshevism. 
Clearly  the  Lenine-Trotsky  theories  have  no  place 
in  Mexico. 

The  church  isn't  trying  to  build  up  a  party  here 
[150] 


BANDITS  AND  BOLSHEVIKI 


just  now.  The  archbishop  of  Guadalajara  and  the 
archbishop  of  Mexico  have  returned,  and  other  prel- 
ates have  resumed  their  labours.  The  church 
wishes  to  make  friends,  and  if  the  church  has  ever 
manifested  sympathy  with  Bolshevism  outside 
Mexico,  I  do  not  recall  it.  I  fancy,  indeed,  that 
if  the  Bolsheviks  in  Mexico  can  win  the  support  of 
the  hierarchy,  the  I.  W.  W.  may  convert  that  fine  old 
gentleman,  James,  Cardinal  Gibbons,  to  their  way 
of  thinking  in  the  United  States. 

The  remaining  hope  of  the  Bolsheviki  would 
seem  to  be  the  opposition  to  the  Government.  At 
present  there  isn't  any.  Regardless  of  previous 
political  affiliations,  the  best  class  of  Mexicans  to- 
day are  trying  to  uphold  the  existing  Government, 
to  make  it  strong  enough  for  security  at  home,  and 
respect  abroad. 

There  remain  the  bandits. 

Have  they  not  realized  all  the  dreams  of  the  Bol- 
sheviki already? 

But  the  bandits  are  not  here  to  stay.  They  are 
doomed  to  disappear,  as  they  always  have  when 
a  stable  government  has  been  attained,  here  or  else- 
where. Some  say  that  Americans  have  a  liking  for 
bandits,  a  point  on  which  I  am  not  sure,  as  the  news- 
papers tell  of  10,000,000  cartridges  shipped  to 
"General"  Pelaez,  the  bandit  who  rules  the  oil 
jungle  back  of  Tampico.  I  also  have  a  recollection 
of  arms  having  been  provided  at  one  time  from  the 
[151] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

United  States  for  "General"  Villa,  which  brings 
me  to  a  story  of  that  "patriotic"  scoundrel  that  may 
be  new  north  of  the  Rio  Grande. 

Villa  announced  to  a  gathering  of  his  followers 
that  President  Wilson  was  the  only  man  living  with 
whom  he  would  not  shake  hands.  He  declared 
that  he  had  been  shamefully  treated  by  our  first 
magistrate,  and  that  he  would  never  forgive  him 
so  long  as  he  lived. 

"He  took  me  up,  and  made  much  of  me,"  said  the 
"Patriotic  General,"  "and  then  dropped  me  just 
as  suddenly.  The  only  reason  he  would  give  was 
that  I  am  a  bandit.  Why,  I  was  a  bandit  when  he 
took  me  up!" 

Where  do  the  bandits  get  dynamite? 

That  is  a  question  the  Mexican  Government  has 
been  vainly  asking  for  some  time.  The  fact  is 
they  have  been  getting  it,  for  they  have  neither  the 
intelligence  nor  the  facilities  to  manufacture  it 
for  themselves.  Not  only  have  they  been  provided 
with  dynamite,  but  they  have  learned  how  to  use 
it.  Some  years  ago  the  bandits  held  up  a  south 
bound  train  in  what  was  then  regarded  as  Villa 
territory,  and  having  looted  it  were  much  annoyed 
because  they  could  not  force  the  lock  on  a  single 
car,  which  happened  to  be  loaded  with  giant  powder 
and  detonators  for  a  mining  camp.  So  they  set 
fire  to  the  train,  and  were  having  a  wild  dance 
about  it  when  there  was  a  terrific  explosion.  When 
[152] 


BANDITS  AND  BOLSHEVIKI 


the  smoke  cleared  away  there  were  no  bandits  to 
be  seen. 

The  Government's  present  effective  but  costly 
method  of  protecting  the  railways  by  means  of 
blockhouses  and  armed  trains  was  resorted  to  after 
the  Zapatistas  and  Felicistas  had  discovered  that  a 
charge  of  dynamite  placed  under  a  rail  could  be 
exploded  by  means  of  an  electric  wire,  the  "pa- 
triotic" officer  in  charge  remaining  carefully  under 
cover  until  after  he  had  pressed  the  button,  and  be- 
ing content  with  such  spoils  as  were  not  destroyed  in 
the  explosion. 

An  American  travelling  man  whose  business  com- 
pelled him  to  come  through  a  danger  zone  several 
years  ago,  told  me  that  on  one  occasion,  after  the 
passengers  had  been  relieved  of  all  their  valuables, 
and  in  some  cases  of  portions  of  their  clothing  and 
their  shoes,  they  were  all  obliged  to  line  up  and 
listen  to  an  address  by  the  "general"  in  command. 

"If  you  must  come  through  these  territories 
where  you  are  not  welcome,"  he  said,  "I  wish  you 
would  not  plunge  into  unnecessary  danger  by  vio- 
lating every  means  of  safety.  We  are  obliged  to 
relieve  our  necessities  as  honest  men  by  borrowing 
some  of  your  superfluous  wealth,  but  we  prefer 
not  to  kill  you.  My  boys  are  as  gentle  as  lambs, 
but  they  have  been  persecuted  so  often  that  some- 
times they  are  careless. 

"When  you  hear  firing,  do  not  look  out  the  win- 
[153] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

dows.  My  boys  are  sure  to  think  that  where  there 
is  a  head  there  is  a  gun,  and  'they  will  pop  at  any 
head  they  see. 

"And  do  not  stand  on  the  front  or  rear  platforms. 
That  is  where  a  tyrannical  government  places  its 
armed  guards,  who  are  not  always  in  uniform.  My 
boys  will  pop  at  anybody  they  see  on  a  platform, 
and  if  you  are  hurt,  it  will  not  be  their  fault  but 
yours." 

The  etiquette  of  the  road  in  those  days  was  for 
the  passengers,  when  firing  began,  to  lie  flat  on  the 
floor  on  their  little  tumtums,  and  wait  until  they 
were  told  to  get  up.  If  the  bandits  had  been  beaten 
off,  they  resumed  their  places  as  before.  If  the 
bandits  captured  the  train,  they  would  offer  their 
silver,  watches,  rings,  hand  luggage,  etc.,  having 
secreted  gold  or  valuable  papers,  and  sometimes 
got  off  very  easily. 

But  not  always.  There  are  stories  of  women 
massacred  as  well  as  men,  and  of  personal  searches 
which  are  better  not  repeated. 

Some  three  years  ago  the  wife  of  a  man  promi- 
nent in  the  American  colony  was  returning  home 
over  a  route  which  was  not  altogether  safe,  when 
the  train  stopped  suddenly.  Instinctively  she  fell 
to  the  floor,  and  a  second  later  a  bullet  crashed 
through  the  glass  of  the  window  where  she  had  been 
sitting.  This  man  had  tried  to  be  absolutely 
neutral  in  Mexican  politics,  but  he  got  off  the  fence, 
[154] 


BANDITS  AND  BOLSHEVIKI 


and  it  was  not  on  the  side  of  the  "general"  who  had 
nearly  murdered  his  wife. 

It  is  all  very  well,  of  course,  for  the  scoundrels 
who  rob  and  maltreat  passengers,  dynamite  or  de- 
rail trains,  blow  up  bridges,  to  say  that  they  are 
not  bandits,  but  the  chiefs  of  political  parties  who 
are  making  an  earnest  effort  to  heal  the  wounds  and 
dry  the  tears  of  their  beloved  patria.  In  years 
past  they  have  been  believed,  some  of  them,  for  a 
time  at  least,  in  our  own  country,  but  not  in 
Mexico. 

The  decent  Mexican  looks  upon  a  bandit  pre- 
cisely as  a  New  Yorker  does  a  gunman.  He  is  to 
be  put  out  of  business  in  the  quickest  and  most  con- 
venient way,  and  the  less  said  about  it  the  better. 
But  a  nightstick  is  not  the  surest  of  weapons  for  a 
New  York  policeman,  and  it  does  not  seem  that  the 
quickest  way  of  eliminating  the  bandits  of  Mexico 
is  to  embargo  arms  and  munitions  intended  for  the 
recognized  Government. 


[155] 


CHAPTER  TWELVE:     IS  MEXICO 
PRO-GERMAN? 

"Is  Mexico  pro-German?" 

That  is  a  question  I  have  been  asking  myself  and 
others — Mexicans  as  well  as  Americans,  during  my 
first  month's  sojourn  in  the  Republic. 

I  shall  try  to  answer  it  frankly,  assuming  that 
my  own  record  as  co-founder  of  La  Ligue  des  Pays 
Neutres,  of  which  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  honour- 
ary  president,  and  such  men  as  Venizelos,  Take 
Jonescu,  Ruy  Barbosa,  Conde  Romanones,  heads  of 
section  like  myself,  places  me  above  the  suspicion 
of  sympathy  with  Kaiserism  and  Kultur. 

My  answer  is  plainly  and  emphatically  "no!" 

The  answer  of  the  Mexicans  is  also  in  the  nega- 
tive, with  the  exception  of  a  few  who  would  like 
to  make  it  appear  that  President  Carranza  was 
entirely  too  friendly  with  Herr  von  Eckardt. 

In  the  case  of  Americans  the  nays  appear  to 
have  it,  but  the  reader  will  have  to  be  content  with  a 
vive  voce  vote,  for  to  attempt  a  roll  call  might  place 
certain  of  our  countrymen  who  have  a  stake  in 
the  country  in  an  embarrassing  position. 

Mind  you,  I  do  not  say  that  Mexico  was  pro- 
American  during  the  war,  or  even  pro-British,  but 
[156] 


75  MEXICO  PRO-GERMAN? 


I  believe  that  all  Mexicans  of  the  better  class  love 
France,  and  that  for  five  years  they  secretly  vio- 
lated the  injunction  laid  upon  them,  as  upon  others, 
to  be  "neutral  in  thought  as  well  as  in  deed." 

Officially  Mexico  was  neutral. 

Actually  Mexico  annoyed  us  by  tolerating  the 
most  extravagant  German  propaganda,  and  by  per- 
mitting an  extensive  system  of  communication  to 
be  operated  between  Berlin  and  South  America 
and  Spain  through  post,  telegraph  and  wireless. 
This  is  precisely  the  course  taken  by  the  United 
States  up  to  within  a  short  time  before  the  declara- 
tion of  war,  a  course  upheld  by  the  American  Gov- 
ernment and  a  part  of  the  American  press,  how- 
ever irritating  to  a  majority  of  the  American  peo- 
ple. Doubtless  it  was  distressing  to  the  Allied 
Powers  who  knew,  as  we  all  know  now,  that  they 
were  fighting  for  all  humanity,  not  for  themselves 
alone,  and  may  naturally  have  felt  that  "he  that 
is  not  for  me  is  against  me";  but  it  was  in  strict 
accordance  with  national  and  international  law. 
We  were  told  so  by  Washington. 

When  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  Amer- 
icans were  no  less  aggrieved  by  Mexican  neutrality 
than  the  Allies  had  been  by  American  neutrality. 
We  are  inclined,  and  perhaps  with  justice,  to  re- 
gard ourselves  as  spokesmen  for  the  three  Amer- 
icas, and  we  felt  hurt  that  Mexico  did  not  follow 
the  example  of  Cuba,  which  declared  war  against 
[157] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

the  Central  Powers,  or  at  least  that  of  Haiti,  which 
provoked  a  rupture  of  diplomatic  relations.  The 
fact  that  Cuba  is  bound  to  us  in  its  foreign  rela- 
tions by  the  Platt  amendment,  and  that  Haiti  has 
been  occupied  by  Marines  for  three  years,  made 
no  difference.  It  was  our  part  to  lead,  and  for 
the  other  sovereign  states  of  the  Western  Hemis- 
phere to  follow. 

Moreover,  we  were  obliged  to  keep  a  large  force 
of  men  on  the  border,  and  we  were  frankly  afraid 
of  "neutrality"  in  so  near  a  neighbour.  Having 
revised  our  own  ideas  of  neutrality,  we  applied  the 
revision  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  We  thought 
of  the  Yellow  Peril  invented  by  William  Hohen- 
zollern  and  proclaimed  to  the  world  by  our  own 
yellow  press.  We  ascribed  to  German  money  and 
intrigue  in  Mexico  a  power  which,  the  event  proved, 
it  did  not  possess. 

Was  not  this  our  attitude,  and  could  not  this  at- 
titude, conveyed  in  terms  not  too  polite  through 
the  press,  have  produced  an  unpleasant  reaction  in 
Mexico? 

In  Mexico  the  situation  was  extraordinarily 
complex. 

The  whole  policy  of  Porfirio  Diaz  had  been 
founded  on  one  axiom:  "We  must  keep  on  good 
terms  with  the  United  States." 

The  wisdom  of  this  course  was  perfectly  appar- 
ent to  every  Mexican  who  sought  to  win  supreme 
[158] 


75  MEXICO  PRO-GERMAN? 


power  after  the  retirement  of  Diaz.  I  venture  to 
say  that  it  is  and  has  always  been  quite  as  plain 
to  General  Carranza  as  to  any  one  else.  But  keep- 
ing on  good  terms  with  the  United  States  has  not 
been  an  easy  matter.  Washington  did  not  make 
it  so. 

Let  us  try  to  see  things  from  the  Mexican  point 
of  view. 

In  the  first  place,  Mexicans  remember  certain 
historical  episodes  quite  well.  Only  this  year 
there  died  one  of  the  generals  who  had  tried  to 
resist  our  invasion  of  1846—47.  It  cost  us  a  trifle 
of  25,000  men  and  $166,500,000  to  beat  the  Mex- 
icans at  Palo  Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  Vera  Cruz, 
Cerro  Gordo,  Churusbusco,  Molino  del  Rey,  Casa 
Mata,  and  to  fly  the  Stars  and  Stripes  on  the  Pala- 
cio  Nacional  Sept.  14,  1847. 

When  the  settlement  was  made  February  2,  1848, 
by  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe-Hidalgo  we  took  in 
payment  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California,  com- 
prising 522,955  square  miles  of  territory,  and 
"rectified"  the  Texas  frontier  by  making  the  Rio 
Grande  the  boundary  from  its  mouth  to  El  Paso. 
We  assumed  claims  of  American  citizens  against 
Mexico  amounting  to  $3,250,000,  and  paid  to 
Mexico  $15,000,000.  It  was  a  better  bargain  than 
the  Louisiana  or  Alaska  purchases,  but  ever  since, 
like  Warren  Hastings,  we  have  been  astonished 
at  our  own  moderation. 

[159] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

The  Mexican  remembers,  of  course,  that  1847 
was  the  sequel  to  the  liberation  and  subsequent  an- 
nexation of  Texas,  and  that  these  two  acts  of  spolia- 
tion reversed  the  territorial  rank  of  the  two  coun- 
tries, making  the  United  States  first  where  she  had 
been  second. 

Writing  as  an  American  whose  family  furnished 
five  soldiers  to  the  American  forces  in  the  war  with 
Mexico,  I  cannot  well  condemn  the  course  of  the 
United  States  in  taking  what  it  apparently  thought 
was  essential  to  its  development,  but  I  certainly 
will  not  attempt  to  justify  it  on  moral  grounds. 
Nor  can  I  blame  the  Mexican  for  remembering  that 
which  we  would  like  to  have  him  forget. 

Apparently  he  had  forgotten  it  during  die  rule 
of  Porfirio  Diaz,  but  the  United  States  found  oc- 
casions to  remind  him  of  it — the  seizure  of  Vera 
Cruz,  and  the  Punitive  Expedition  under  General 
Pershing. 

Mexicans  were  as  completely  mystified  by  these 
extraordinary  proceedings  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  as  were  Americans.  They  could  not  and 
can  not  understand  why  the  United  States  should 
have  taken  forcible  possession  of  the  chief  seaport 
of  the  republic  without  a  declaration  of  war,  nor 
can  they  understand  why,  having  obtained  con- 
trol, the  American  forces  were  withdrawn.  I  can- 
not either,  but  doubtless  a  satisfactory  explanation 
may  be  given  a  generation  hence,  when  the  history 
[160] 


75  MEXICO  PRO-GERMAN? 


of  Mr.  Wilson's  administration  is  written  with  the 
proper  perspective,  and  with  due  access  to  the  se- 
cret archives  of  the  State  Department. 

Neither  can  Mexicans  understand  why  General 
Pershing  should  have  been  sent  in  friendly  terri- 
tory to  capture  a  bandit  who  had  formerly  been  on 
the  best  of  terms  with  the  United  States,  and  why 
he  retired  to  the  United  States  without  accomplish- 
ing the  purpose  for  which  he  entered  Mexico. 

Diplomacy,  as  represented  by  Lane  Wilson  and 
John  Lind,  and  William  Bayard  Hale  is  still  unin- 
telligible to  the  Mexicans.  It  may  be  illustrated 
by  an  anecdote  I  heard  here  of  the  departure  of 
Lind. 

His  conferences  with  Huerta  having  been  un- 
productive, Mr.  Lind  called  in  a  group  of  rep- 
resentative Americans,  and  asked  their  advice. 
They  had  none  to  give,  whereupon  he  decided  that 
the  time  had  come  to  deliver  an  ultimatum.  It 
was  duly  written  and  read  to  the  Americans,  and 
they  were  asked  what  the  result  would  be.  One 
of  them  replied  that  there  wouldn't  be  any  result. 

"What?"  cried  the  super-envoy.  "Do  you  think 
Huerta  will  dare  to  ignore  the  armed  power  of  the 
United  States  of  America?  He  will  reply,  and  at 
once,  or  I  will  withdraw  from  Mexico,  and  war  will 
follow." 

A  messenger  was  accordingly  dispatched  to  find 
Huerta,  who  happened  to  be  out  of  town  for  the 
[161] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

time  being.  He  returned  to  the  Palace  in  the  aft- 
ernoon, and  the  message  was  presented.  He  read 
it  and  laid  it  aside.  Being  informed  that  an  im- 
mediate answer  was  expected,  he  glanced  at  it  again, 
and  said  he  saw  no  occasion  to  hurry. 

"But  Mr.  Lind  will  depart  for  the  United  States 
on  the  six  o'clock  train  if  he  does  not  receive  a 
reply." 

"Mr.  Lind  is  at  liberty  to  leave  Mexico  when 
he  pleases,"  said  Huerta,  with  a  grin;  "but  if  he 
wishes  to  go  at  once,  see  that  a  presidential  private 
car  is  placed  at  his  disposal." 

Mr.  Lind  on  receiving  this  message,  prepared 
to  depart,  but  he  again  called  in  his  acquaintances 
in  the  American  colony  before  going  to  the  station. 

"It  is  war,  gentlemen,"  he  announced  with  more 
than  usual  solemnity.  "I  shall  be  on  United  States 
territory  within  twenty-four  hours,  and  will  im- 
mediately telegraph  a  statement  to  Washington. 
The  President  will  declare  war  against  Mexico  the 
next  day.  I  tell  you  this,  so  you  may  get  out  of 
the  country  as  best  you  may." 

None  of  the  Americans  took  Mr.  Lind  seriously 
enough  to  follow  his  suggestion  about  quitting 
Mexico. 

And  nothing  happened. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  United 
States  with  regard  to  Mexico  was,  until  American 
troops  got  into  action  in  the  Argonne,  accompanied 
[162] 


7S  MEXICO  PRO-GERMAN? 


by  a  disposition  to  undervalue  the  American  fight- 
ing force.  At  the  time  we  were  building  up  a 
great  army,  that  army  which  was  to  deliver  the 
coup  de  grace  to  the  Hun  fighting  machine,  a  Mex- 
ican military  official  spoke  of  our  troops  as 
"Chocolate  Soldiers"  in  the  course  of  a  conversa- 
tion with  an  American  friend.  He  was  at  great 
pains,  I  am  glad  to  say,  to  apologize  for  this,  after 
our  men  had  shown  their  worth,  and  gave  our 
troops  the  superlative  praise  they  deserved. 

Clearly,  the  Mexicans  understood  nothing  of 
our  motives  in  entering  the  war,  and  still  less  of 
our.  strength.  All  they  could  see  was  the  threat 
of  an  invasion  from  the  north. 

We  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  enlighten  them 
until  the  war  was  practically  over.  We  did  noth- 
ing until  it  was  too  late  to  accomplish  anything 
to  offset  the  propaganda  of  the  Central  Powers. 
Mr.  Creel's  bureau  offered  long  stories  for  pub- 
lication, free  of  charge,  where  the  German  Lega- 
tion offered  short  stories,  and  paid  for  their  inser- 
tion. 

The  pro-Ally  press  of  Mexico  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  obtaining  news  print  at  a  time  when  the 
German  Legation  was  supplying  its  subsidized  news- 
paper with  all  it  could  use. 

But  to  say  that,  even  under  such  conditions,  Mex- 
ico was  pro-German,  would  be  far  from  the  truth. 

Mexico  had  her  experience  of  French  invaders 
[163] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

under  Maximilian  of  Austria  in  the  Sixties,  and 
licked  them  thoroughly.  That  episode  Mexicans 
could  easily  forgive.  Mexico  had  been  in  the 
closest  of  financial  and  commercial  relations  with 
France.  Good  Mexicans  like  good  Americans  ex- 
pected to  go  to  Paris  when  they  died.  Well  to  do 
Mexican  women  clothed  themselves  in  French 
gowns,  saturated  their  bodies  with  French  per- 
fumes and  their  minds  with  French  novels.  Mex- 
ican millionaires  loved  to  spend  their  money  on 
French  furnishings  for  their  homes,  French  wines 
for  their  tables,  and  as  much  time  as  possible  in 
Paris.  France,  the  art  centre  of  the  world,  France 
the  Latin,  Catholic,  republic,  appealed  to  Latin, 
Catholic,  republican  Mexico  in  the  time  of  her 
greatest  sorrows. 

And  Mexico  remained  strictly  neutral. 

Why? 

Because  the  Mexicans  would  not  fight  beside  the 
Yankees. 

They  disliked  us,  and  they  distrusted  us. 

But  we  are  necessary  to  them,  and  they  know 
it.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  they  dislike  and 
distrust  the  Germans  quite  as  much  as  they  do 
us.  And  the  Germans  are  not  merely  not  neces- 
sary to  them;  it  will  be,  as  they  see  it,  a  matter 
of  years  before  the  Germans  can  even  be  useful. 

The  dislike  and  distrust  of  the  Mexicans  for 
[164] 


75  MEXICO  PRO-GERMAN? 


Americans  is  based  largely  upon  a  misunderstand- 
ing for  which  we  are  in  part  to  blame. 

The  dislike  and  distrust  of  Mexicans  for  Ger- 
mans is  based  upon  a  perfect  understanding  of  the 
Teutonic  character  and  aims. 

President  Carranza's  course  during  the  war  re- 
flected public  sentiment  accurately.  He  did  noth- 
ing against  the  United  States  that  could  justify  a 
charge  of  broken  neutrality.  He  did  nothing  for 
the  United  States  that  would  involve  Mexico  with 
the  Central  Powers. 

He  did  not,  as  his  critics  so  often  say,  back  the 
wrong  horse.  He  watched  the  race  without  mak- 
ing a  bet,  and  is  content  with  the  result,  but  he 
could  not  have  forced  his  people  into  an  active 
alliance  with  the  United  States,  even  to  help  France. 

This  is  the  truth  as  I  see  it. 

And  people  in  Mexico  have  seen  a  great  light. 
They  will  no  longer  oppose  the  plans  of  the  Presi- 
dent for  a  rapprochement  within  the  United  States. 
They  seem  now  to  be  willing  to  forget  and  forgive. 

Under  the  circumstances,  ought  not  the  initiative 
to  come  from  us? 


[165] 


CHAPTER  THIRTEEN:    THE  DEMON  AS 
LICOR  DIVING 

At  a  time  when  the  press  is  devoting  editorials 
to  the  dangers  threatening  Mexico  as  a  result  of 
prohibition  in  the  United  States  and  the  plans  of 
the  American  Whiskey  Trust  to  establish  six  giant 
distilleries  in  the  chief  cities  of  this  Republic,  I 
am  able  to  say  on  the  highest  authority  that  no 
concessions  will  be  granted  for  distillery  purposes. 
When  the  project  was  outlined  to  President  Car- 
ranza,  his  only  comment  was  that  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment was  not  so  badly  in  need  of  money  as  to 
wish  to  profit  from  vice. 

Nevertheless  there  was  quite  a  tempest  in  a  tea- 
pot as  a  result  of  the  recent  visit  of  el  Sefior  J. 
McRead,  representing  American  whiskey  inter- 
ests. He  found  that  there  were  admirable  sites 
for  distilleries,  that  an  abundance  of  grain  could 
be  obtained  suitable  for  malting,  and  he  assumed, 
perhaps,  that  Mexicans  are  a  thirsty  race.  What 
more  natural  than  to  transplant  Peoria  to,  we  will 
say,  Monterey? 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  the  American  whiskey 
men  really  planned  an  export  business,  meaning  to 
benefit  by  the  cheapness  of  labour  and  materials  in 
[166] 


THE  DEMON  AS  L1COR  D1V1NO 

Mexico,  for  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  they 
have  failed  to  hear  of  pulque,  the  form  in  which 
the  Demon  Rum  is  best  known  to  and  best  loved 
by  the  masses  of  the  Mexican  people.  If  they 
haven't  heard  of  pulque — 

Sabe  que  es  pulque, — 
Licor  divino? 
Lo  beben  los  angeles 
En  vez  de  vino. 

Which  may  be  freely  interpreted:  "Don't  you 
know  that  pulque  is  liquor  divine;  the  drink  of  the 
angels  in  place  of  wine?" 

In  our  own  glorious  republic  whiskey  men  al- 
ways have  been  good  business  men,  and  ought 
therefore  to  know  that  they  cannot  compete  with  a 
national  drink  which  is  to  some  extent  an  agri- 
cultural by-product,  and  which  is  so  cheap  that  at 
manufacturers'  prices  a  plain  souse  may  be  pur- 
chased for  two  cents,  a  complete  jag  for  three  cents, 
insensibility  and  a  fine  headache  for  five  cents, 
and  a  murderous  fit  of  the  D.  T.  for  a  dime! 

What  then  is  pulque? 

The  question  is  much  more  easily  answered  than 
the  one  propounded  several  years  ago  by  President 
Taft:  "What  is  whiskey?" 

Pulque  is  merely  the  fermented  juice  of  the 
Maguey  plant,  which  thrives  without  cultivation 
[167] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

on  the  Mexican  plateaus,  and  is  valuable  for  many 
other  purposes  than  the  production  of  intoxicating 
drink.  It  furnishes  a  vegetable  parchment  not  less 
durable  than  vellum;  twine,  rope;  both  needles  and 
thread;  molasses  and  vinegar,  and  roofing  for 
houses.  It  acts  as  a  binder  for  friable  soil,  and 
its  enormous  root  formation  conserves  moisture 
during  the  dry  season.  Corn  and  barley  are  grown 
between  the  long  rows  of  maguey.  Without  the 
maguey  there  is  a  probability  that  this  arid  land 
would  become  a  desert.  That,  at  least,  is  the 
opinion  of  many  of  the  most  intelligent  land  own- 
ers, and  as  corn  is  an  important  if  not  the  most 
important  food  crop,  and  Mexico  is  now  export- 
ing barley,  national  prohibition  of  pulque  does  not 
seem  possible  until  a  substitute  for  the  maguey 
can  be  found  for  other  agricultural  purposes. 

Propagated  from  suckers,  the  maguey  attains 
enormous  size,  and  in  the  course  of  five  years  or 
more,  is  ready  to  blossom.  It  is,  in  fact,  our  Cen- 
tury Plant,  but  the  leaves  attain  a  length  of  ten 
feet,  and  the  flower  stalk  rises  to  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  above  the  ground.  But  before  the 
maguey  flowers  its  central  stalk  is  cut  down,  and 
the  heart  of  the  plant  is  scooped  out  to  form  a 
bowl,  which  soon  fills  with  "aguamiel"  (honey  wa- 
ter). The  plant,  which  would  have  died  after 
flowering,  continues  to  yield  fluid  at  the  rate  of 
from  a  gallon  to  a  gallon  and  a  half  daily  for  a 
[168] 


THE  DEMON  AS  LICOR  DIVINO 

period  of  from  three  to  five  months,  depending 
upon  the  skill  of  the  men  who  handle  the  job.  The 
usual  method  of  removing  the  liquid  is  for  the 
workman  to  suck  it  into  a  pipette  formed  of  a  cala- 
bash. When  the  calabash  is  full  he  closes  the 
bottom  aperture  with  his  finger,  and  then  releases 
it  into  such  a  pig  or  sheepskin  as  was  used  for 
carrying  wine  in  the  memorable  days  of  Don 
Quixote.  Then  he  scrapes  the  cavity  from  which 
he  has  emptied  the  aguamiel,  so  as  to  keep  the 
wound  of  the  heart  of  the  maguey  fresh.  If  he  is 
a  good  workman  and  removes  but  the  outer  layer 
of  the  plant,  it  will  continue  to  yield  its  sap  for 
five  months.  If  he  is  careless  or  unskilful,  and 
wounds  the  plant  too  deeply,  it  may  die  in  three 
months  or  less. 

The  aguamiel  is  sweet,  slightly  astringent,  and 
aromatic  in  flavour.  The  odour  is  not  unpleasant, 
and  the  aftertaste  bitter.  Carried  in  its  skin  bag 
to  the  hacienda  or  farm  house,  it  is  poured  into  a 
large  vat,  or  a  cow-skin  hung  upon  a  wooden  frame, 
depending  upon  the  size  and  importance  of  the  es- 
tablishment, where  a  small  quantity  of  stale  pulque 
is  added  to  start  fermentation.  In  twenty-four 
hours  the  aguamiel  has  been  converted  into  the 
pulque  of  commerce,  a  milky  looking  and  sulphur- 
ous smelling  liquid,  and  is  shipped  to  the  larger 
centres  of  population,  where  it  retails  at  five  times 
the  cost  of  production.  It  was  estimated  some 
[169] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

years  ago  that  the  consumption  of  Mexico  City 
amounted  to  100  or  more  carloads  daily,  at  a  cost 
of  20,000  pesos  a  day.  Doubtless  there  has  been 
no  diminution  in  the  cost  during  the  revolution. 

As  to  the  effect  of  the  national  drink  on  the  peo- 
ple there  is  a  wide  difference  of  opinion. 

Dr.  Felipe  Valencia,  a  Mexican  physician  of  dis- 
tinction who  has  travelled  much  and  observed 
greatly,  asserts  that  pulque  is  the  curse  of  the  na- 
tion, just  as  mate  is  of  the  people  in  extreme  South 
America.  He  considers  that  its  effect  is  much  more 
deleterious  than  that  of  beer,  and  that  the  constant 
use  of  pulque  in  large  quantities  is  certain  to  wreck 
both  the  moral  and  physical  structure  of  the  ad- 
dict. Having  been  invited  to  contribute  a  series 
of  articles  to  El  Pueblo,  the  official  newspaper 
of  the  Republic,  based  upon  the  results  of  travel  in 
the  United  States  and  South  America  as  well  as  Eu- 
rope, he  exposed  the  pulque  evil  and  attacked  it  in 
every  way  he  could.  Dr.  Valencia  is  far  from  be- 
ing an  extremist.  He  likes  a  good  glass  of  wine, 
and  approves  of  beer  in  moderation.  He  would 
also  approve  of  pulque  if  the  lower  classes  could 
be  brought  to  approve  of  moderation  in  consump- 
tion, a  thing  that  now  appears  impossible. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  Mexican  aristocrat  assured 
me  that  he  always  drank  a  small  glass  of  pulque 
daily,  and  believed  that  it  had  valuable  tonic  qual- 
ities, and  was  an  aid  to  digestion. 
[170] 


THE  DEMON  AS  L1COR  DIVINO 

The  effect  on  the  Mexicans  who  are  neither  of 
the  aristocracy  of  birth  nor  of  brains  is  unmistak- 
able. There  is  more  drunkenness  here  than  in 
Cuba,  and  about  as  much  as  would  be  found  in 
Kentucky  before  that  State  went  dry.  The  pulque 
drunkard  is  quarrelsome,  and  drifts  easily  into 
crime. 

The  upper  class  Mexican  considers  himself  a 
gentleman,  and  he  is.  The  lower  class  Mexican 
calls  himself  a  "hombre"  (man),  and  has  a  code 
in  which  personal  courage  ranks  first  in  impor- 
tance. 

Two  anecdotes  will  suffice  to  show  the  effect  of 
pulque  on  the  "hombre"  where  a  thousand  might 
be  told.  A  dispute  having  arisen  between  two 
peons  as  to  which  was  the  braver  man,  one  bet 
that  he  would  stand  in  front  of  an  electric  train. 
The  wager  was  to  be  paid  in  pulque.  The  tram 
smashed  one  pulque  addict  into  pulp,  and  the 
other,  considering  the  death  of  his  friend  a  great 
joke,  went  to  the  hospital  after  having  tried  to 
consume  the  entire  amount  of  the  wager  at  a  sit- 
ting. 

Two  friends  and  neighbours  started  home  from 
a  pulque  shop  arm  in  arm.  It  was  necessary,  since 
neither  could  have  walked  well  alone.  A  quarrel 
arose  over  some  trivial  circumstance,  in  the  course 
of  which  one  "hombre"  called  the  other  a  liar. 
Both  drew  their  knives,  and  began  carving  each 
[171] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

other  in  a  deliberate  and  not  unskilful  manner. 
By-standers  called  the  police,  but  did  not  interfere. 
When  the  police  arrived,  one  man  was  dead.  The 
other,  holding  together  a  gaping  wound  in  the 
abdomen  with  his  hands,  walked  to  the  police  sta- 
tion, and  lived  long  enough  to  explain  to  the  officer 
in  command  that  he  had  "fallen  on  a  piece  of 
glass." 

A  real  "hombre"  does  not  think  of  asking  the 
police  to  assist  in  the  settlement  of  personal  affairs, 
nor  does  he  "squeal." 

His  ethics  are  those  of  a  similar  strata  of  so- 
ciety which  sometimes  get  into  print  in  American 
newspapers. 

A  majority  of  the  passional  crimes,  perhaps  even 
of  all  crimes  of  violence,  may  be  traced  in  Mexico 
to  pulque. 

More  than  an  hundred  years  ago,  when  Count 
de  Revillagegido  was  viceroy,  pulque  paid  a  rev- 
enue in  Mexico  City  of  800,000  pesos  per  annum, 
on  a  consumption  of  about  100,000,000  quarts. 

The  consumption  has  decreased,  but  pulque  is 
still  the  greatest  of  Mexico's  evils,  despite  a  dozen 
attempts  at  reform.  Mescal  and  tequila,  both  dis- 
tillations from  the  cactus,  are  said  to  be  even  more 
injurious  than  pulque  itself.  Fortunately,  they 
are  less  popular,  because  more  expensive. 

I  have  no  prejudice  against  the  Demon  Rum  in 
any  of  the  forms  in  which  he  has  been  manifest  to 
[172] 


THE  DEMON  AS  L1COR  DIVINO 

me,  and  no  distaste  for  pulque.  But  I  must  con- 
fess that  what  I  say  about  pulque  is  based  on  ob- 
servation rather  than  experiment.  So  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  its  odour  is  against  it  for  purposes  of 
beverage,  and  I  am  compelled  to  admit  that,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  hygiene,  it  is  probably  the 
dirtiest  alcoholic  ever  marketed. 

But  the  problem  of  pulque  is  one  of  immense 
difficulty  for  the  Government.  Prohibition  might 
produce  worse  evils  than  the  beer  strikes  which 
have  taken  place  in  Great  Britain.  The  Govern- 
ment would  not,  I  believe,  hesitate  to  attack  the  evil 
at  its  source,  but  for  the  immediate  effect  on  the 
soil  which  would  result  if  the  maguey  were  no 
longer  cultivated.  And  but  for  pulque  the  maguey 
would  not  be  cultivated. 

The  Government,  on  the  other  hand,  recognizes 
the  instinct  for  stimulant  which  prevails  through- 
out humanity.  It  hopes  to  devise  a  scheme  for 
regulation  short  of  prohibition.  But  while  it  is 
trying  to  solve  the  pulque  problem,  it  will  not  com- 
plicate matters  by  authorizing  new  establishments 
for  the  distillation  of  grain.  As  evidence  of  free- 
dom from  fanatical  sentiments,  either  for  or  against 
the  use  of  alcohol,  it  is  worth  nothing  that  the  tariff 
on  the  importation  of  foreign  wines  has  recently 
been  reduced.  The  import  tax  on  a  case  of  cham- 
pagne was  140  pesos.  Today  the  tax  is  only  40 
pesos. 

[173] 


CHAPTER  FOURTEEN:     TRADE  AND 
COMMERCIAL  CREDITS 

If  the  Germans  are  decidedly  "under  all,"  their 
organization  is  intact.  They  will  sell  American 
goods  if  they  can  get  them  until  they  are  able  to 
substitute  German  goods.  So  free  are  they  from 
racial  antipathy  that  they  will  sell  British  and 
French  goods — if  they  can  get  them — until  German 
manufactures  can  again  be  imported. 

For  the  last  five  or  six  years  some  of  us  who 
know  a  bit  about  Latin  America  have  been  preach- 
ing to  American  business  men  that  never  again 
would  they  have  such  an  opportunity  to  extend  and 
solidify  their  exports,  but  quite  in  vain.  They 
could  not  get  ships.  They  did  not  like  long  credits. 
Patriotic  motives  gave  Europe  the  preference. 
There  were  a  thousand  reasons  for  inactivity,  most 
of  which  when  put  to  the  acid  test,  were  based  on 
the  matter  of  credits. 

South  of  the  Rio  Grande  are  100,000,000 
people,  inhabiting  countries  of  vastly  greater 
natural  wealth  than  Europe,  who  have  been  driven, 
in  some  cases  against  their  wish,  to  the  markets  of 
the  United  States.  During  a  period  when  billions 
have  been  lent  to  Europe,  the  rule  enforced  has 
[174] 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCIAL  CREDITS 

been  cash  with  order  or  draft  against  bill  of  lading, 
in  dealing  with  the  Latin  countries  of  the  New 
World. 

What  will  happen  is  this.  If  the  Germans  fail 
to  regain  their  dominant  position,  it  will  be  as- 
sumed by  France  and  Great  Britain,  who  are  al- 
ready actively  exploiting  Cuba  and  Mexico,  and 
probably  the  twenty  republics  further  south  as 
well. 

Writing  in  Collier's  some  months  ago,  former 
President  Restrepo,  of  Columbia,  made  this  plea: 

"Have  faith  in  us,  North  America.  The  Eu- 
ropean producers  and  commissions  readily  give  us 
six  and  nine  months  credit.  North  Americans  dis- 
like to  give  us  even  three  months  credit.  They 
prefer  thirty  days  credit,  and  many  give  us  not  a 
day,  yet  they  give  a  longer  credit  to  their  own 
people.  We  do  not  understand  why  this  is  so. 
These  credits  have  helped  European  commerce 
enormously." 

To  confine  the  discussion  of  credits  specifically 
to  Mexico,  and  as  showing  the  kind  of  competition 
to  be  expected  by  Americans  from  the  rest  of  the 
world,  I  present  in  condensed  form  information 
prepared  for  the  American  Chamber  of  Commerce 
in  Mexico  by  Edwin  W.  Sours,  general  manager  in 
Mexico  for  R.  G.  Dun  &  Co. 

Prior  to  the  war  British  exporters  sold  to  large 
Mexican  houses  in  open  account,  charging  4^?  per 
[175] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

cent,  on  unpaid  balances.  Sales  to  small  concerns 
were  as  close  as  possible  for  cash,  drawing  through 
a  bank  on  shipping  documents.  The  rate  on  un- 
paid balances  during  the  war  has  been  raised  to 
5~L/2  and  in  some  cases  to  6  per  cent.  In  sales  of 
textile  machinery,  in  which  a  large  trade  had  been 
established  between  England  and  Mexico,  the  cus- 
tom was  one-third  with  order,  one-third  against 
shipping  documents,  and  one-third  when  the  ma- 
chinery was  in  operation ;  but  exceptions  were  made 
when  competition  required,  and  six  to  twelve 
months  credit  was  allowed. 

The  British  system  was  largely  followed  by  the 
French  exporters,  but  the  French  were  more 
generally  represented  by  resident  agents,  and  an 
enormous  trade  in  dry  goods  was  carried  on  here 
by  French  firms  who  maintained  purchasing 
agencies  in  Paris.  Credit  was  very  freely  extended 
in  the  sales  of  wines  and  brandies,  amounting  to 
six  months  or  more. 

The  export  trade  of  Germany  had  assumed  large 
proportions  through  a  different  system  from  that 
employed  by  England  and  France.  Not  only  were 
agents  and  representatives  established  in  Mexico, 
but  travellers  came  frequently,  and  it  was  their 
custom  to  sell  both  to  the  larger  houses  in  the  more 
important  cities,  but  also  to  the  small  trade  in  the 
interior  towns.  To  these  buyers  credit  was  ex- 
tended freely  for  a  term  of  six  and  eight  months 
[176] 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCIAL  CREDITS 

and  even  longer.  The  principal  German  trade  was 
in  hardware,  both  heavy  and  small,  toys,  drugs, 
chemicals,  leather  and  shoemakers  supplies,  ma- 
chinery, electrical  goods,  etc. 

The  British  sold  cotton  and  woollen  goods,  linens 
and  laces. 

The  French  sold  silks  and  novelties. 

The  Americans  sold  what  they  could. 

Since  the  war  the  bulk  of  Mexico's  foreign  trade 
has  necessarily  been  with  the  United  States,  al- 
though Spain,  which  had  chiefly  exported  wine, 
canned  goods  and  wooden  ware  to  Mexico,  has  de- 
veloped a  fair  sized  trade  in  shoes,  dry  goods,  and 
various  articles  made  by  hand. 

The  United  States  had,  before  the  war,  built  up 
a  trade  in  machinery,  hardware,  typewriters,  shoes, 
papers,  printing  supplies,  and  has  been  supplying 
temporarily  practically  all  the  other  lines  enu- 
merated. 

Mr.  Sours  notes  the  American  tendency  to  insist 
on  cash  or  cash  against  shipping  documents,  and 
tells  a  story  to  illustrate  the  situation. 

"A  very  large  order  was  placed  for  dry  goods 
by  one  of  the  leading  houses  here,  of  unquestioned 
credit,  with  an  American  house.  The  Americans 
were  requested  to  ship  the  order,  sight  draft  for 
bill  of  lading,  but  refused.  They  were  then  asked 
to  turn  over  the  shipping  papers  to  the  buyers' 
bankers  in  New  York,  who  happen  to  be  one  of  the 
[177] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

best  known  financial  institutions  there.  This  was 
refused  and  strict  cash  in  hand  exacted  as  a  condi- 
tion for  shipping  the  goods.  The  order  was  can- 
celled." 

As  a  result  of  such  practices,  Mr.  Sours  thinks 
considerable  dissatisfaction  exists,  and  it  need  oc- 
casion no  surprise  should  the  importers  of  Mexico 
show  an  inclination  to  return  to  their  European  con- 
nections and  curtail  as  far  as  possible  their  pur- 
chases in  the  United  States. 

The  time  has  now  come,  of  course,  when  this 
shift  of  international  trade  is  possible. 

The  Ward  Line  has  now  increased  its  service  via 
Havana  to  New  York  to  pre-war  frequency,  a 
steamer  a  week.  But  the  Compagnie  Generale 
Transatlantique  has  resumed  its  service  to  Vera 
Cruz,  and  it  is  expected  that  a  group  of  English 
capitalists  will  inaugurate  a  new  service  with 
British  ports. 

And  the  country  has  been  full  of  British  and 
French  commercial  travellers,  all  desirous  of  re- 
newing old  relations,  which  are  quite  different 
from  those  in  vogue  in  the  United  States. 

The  "drummer"  who  goes  into  Mexico  and  ex- 
pects to  start  work  the  first  day  with  a  line  of  sample 
cases  is  doomed  to  disappointment.  It  is  not  done 
any  more.  He  will  find  that  his  French  or  British 
colleague  goes  about  it  in  quite  a  leisurely  way. 
First  a  brief  morning  call,  then  a  day  or  two  later 
[178] 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCIAL  CREDITS 

a  luncheon,  with  social  gossip,  and  no  talk  about 
business.  Perhaps  a  visit  to  the  theatre,  if  the  city 
is  large  enough  to  support  one.  Then  a  suggestion 
from  the  Mexican  business  man  that  he  needs  cer- 
tain supplies,  and  the  order  is  booked. 

Of  course  this  isn't  our  way  of  doing  business, 
but  after  all  it  is  pleasant,  and  in  the  end  involves 
the  exchange  of  money  for  goods. 

A  New  Yorker  traveling  for  a  chemical  house  has 
learned  the  trick.  "These  people,"  he  said,  in- 
dicating the  class  with  whom  he  did  business,  "are 
not  merely  my  customers,  they  are  my  friends.  In 
many  cases  I  dine  at  their  houses,  and  at  the  time 
for  me  to  catch  a  train  to  come  here  from  the  last 
town  I  visited,  my  biggest  customer  in  that  place, 
who  had  entertained  me  delightfully,  took  me  to 
the  station  in  his  car." 


[179] 


CHAPTER  FIFTEEN:     FINANCE  AND 
THE  BANKS 

Nothing  could  be  more  opportune  than  the  pro- 
posed visit  to  Mexico  of  a  committee  of  American, 
French  and  British  financiers.  They  will  be  re- 
ceived courteously,  hospitably,  and  it  is  the  im- 
pression here  in  well  informed  circles  that  the 
Government  will  lay  its  cards  face  up  on  the  table. 
(This  article  was  written  in  March,  1919.) 

But,  to  quote  a  Mexican  gentleman  who  knows 
local  conditions,  they  will  find  that  Revolution  has 
been  succeeded  by  Evolution,  that  Mexico  today 
has  sufficient  means  for  actual  expenses,  and  needs 
money  only  for  the  purposes  of  reconstruction. 
Once  a  friendly  understanding  between  the  two 
Governments  has  been  reached,  the  financial  situa- 
tion will  quickly  right  itself,  in  his  opinion,  as  it 
will  involve  the  matter  of  credits  rather  than  of 
cash.  And  there  is  every  reason  to  hope,  from  the 
Mexican  point  of  view,  that  the  few  existing  differ- 
ences are  now  being  adjusted  in  a  manner  which 
will  prove  satisfactory  to  both  Mexico  and  the 
United  States. 

"Imagine  yourself  dealing  in  a  business  way 
with  a  young  man  of  twenty,"  continued  my  in- 
[180] 


FINANCE  AND  THE  BANKS 


formant,  "and  then,  after  a  lapse  of  ten  years,  re- 
suming relations  with  him.  He  will  have  matured 
somewhat,  will  he  not?  He  will  have  gained  both 
wisdom  and  experience." 

In  a  word,  what  Mexico  desires  most  of  all  is  the 
friendship  of  our  country,  because  Mexico  believes 
that  co-operation  in  business  matters  will  follow. 

During  a  civil  war  finance  moves  in  a  mysterious 
way  its  wonders  to  perform.  Ask  any  of  the  older 
generation  in  the  South,  where  the  notes  and  bonds 
of  the  Confederate  States  of  America  are  still 
treasured  because  of  a  sentimental  value  which 
cannot  be  destroyed.  Study  the  history  of  the 
Greenback  party,  or  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  16  to  1 
epidemic,  and  it  will  appear  that  even  in  a  period 
of  reconstruction,  financial  problems  are  not  clear 
to  all  alike. 

The  Evolution  will  frankly  welcome  foreign 
capital;  the  Revolution  was  aware  that  foreign  sup- 
port could  not  be  obtained  at  any  price.  The  Revo- 
lution maintained  itself  by  revolutionary  methods. 
The  Evolution  will  be  developed  by  constructive 
methods.  The  first  step  has  been  taken  in  the 
establishment  of  metal  currency,  which  is  abundant, 
with  exchange  maintained  at  the  rate  of  two  pesos 
to  the  American  dollar. 

The  Mexican  financial  problem  is  triangular.  It 
involves: 

(A)  Either  a  foreign  loan  or  increased  revenues 
[181] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

to  meet  the  cost  of  necessary  reconstruction  work, 
and  for  the  expansion  of  agricultural  interests. 

(B)  Settlement  of  the  controversy  over  petrol- 
eum. 

(C)  Adjustment  of  the  claims  of  foreign  holders 
of  the  railways  which  have  been  nationalized. 

To  the  Mexican  who  faces  local  conditions,  whose 
present  living  and  future  state  depend  upon  the  se- 
curity of  internal  credits,  his  side  of  the  triangle  is 
all-important.  To  the  foreigner,  whether  Ameri- 
can, French  or  British,  either  petroleum  or  rail- 
ways looms  much  larger.  To  an  unprejudiced 
observer  whose  interests  are  aloof  from  Mexico  and 
from  foreign  capital  invested  there  as  well,  the  prob- 
lem is  complex,  but  by  no  means  impossible  of 
solution. 

The  matter  of  a  foreign  loan  need  not  be  dis- 
cussed until  something  tangible  develops.  The  pe- 
troleum controversy  hangs  fire  for  the  present  in 
the  Mexican  courts.  The  railway  interests  are  no 
worse  off  for  the  moment  than  in  our  own  country. 
Let  us  try  to  understand  something  of  Mexico's 
budget,  therefore,  as  a  foundation  for  comprehen- 
sion of  the  whole  problem. 

Mexico  has  been  trying  to  work  out  a  financial 
system  adapted  to  present  day  conditions.  To  this 
end  President  Carranza  appointed  a  "Comision  de 
Reorganizacion  Administrativa  y  Financiera," 
which  at  once  availed  itself  of  the  services  of 
[182] 


FINANCE  AND  THE  BANKS 


foreign  economists.  A  preliminary  survey  of  the 
Mexican  revenue  problem,  with  suggestions  for  the 
reconstruction  of  the  system  was  completed  in  July, 
1918,  by  Dr.  Henry  Alfred  E.  Chandler,  professor 
of  economics  in  Columbia,  which  has  been  pub- 
lished with  a  foreword  by  Prof.  Edwin  R.  A.  Selig- 
man,  of  the  same  institution.  Prof.  Seligman 
pointed  out  that  "a  fundamental  defect  of  the  old 
system  was  the  multiplicity  of  taxes."  And  he 
asserted  that  "just  as  the  French  Revolution  swept 
away  at  one  blow  the  heterogeneous  mass  of  com- 
plicated mediaeval  taxes  in  order  to  replace  them 
by  a  small  number  of  well  selected  imposts,  so  the 
first  task  of  the  fiscal  reformer  in  Mexico  must  be 
to  introduce  simplicity  in  the  tax  system.  A  few 
carefully  chosen  sources  of  revenue  will  be  pref- 
erable to  a  jumble  of  partial  and  ineffective  im- 
posts." 

This  statement,  much  amplified  by  Professor 
Chandler,  has  been  deeply  pondered  by  Mexican 
statesmen,  who  appear  also  to  have  been  impressed 
by  these  suggestions  of  Professor  Chandler,  made  in 
1917: 

"A  very  important  part  of  the  wealth  of  the 
country  is  taxed  very  little  or  not  at  all. 

"A  large  part  of  the  productive  wealth  of  the 
country  is  controlled  by  non-residents  or  aliens, 
and  escapes  a  portion  of  its  fair  share  of  the  state 
and  national  burden. 

[183] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

"While  the  large  percentage  of  wealth  of  the 
country  is  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  the  very 
few,  the  bulk  of  the  tax  burden  of  the  nation  rests 
upon  the  lower  classes. 

"Directly  or  indirectly,  consumption  instead  of 
property  or  income,  is  one  of  the  tax  bases  most 
used  or  finally  reached." 

To  prevent  waste  of  public  funds  and  provide 
a  modern  system  of  accounting,  Henry  Bruere,  of 
New  York,  was  invited  to  bring  to  Mexico  a  staff  of 
accountants  in  order  to  install  an  audit  office,  and 
notwithstanding  some  opposition  on  the  part  of 
under  officialdom,  this  system  is  now  in  operation. 

But  having  taken  counsel  of  American  and  other 
experts,  the  Carranza  Administration  decided  upon 
the  most  sweeping  reforms. 

Luis  Cabrera,  secretary  of  hacienda  (treasury), 
in  a  conversation  with  me  some  days  ago,  used  a 
homely  illustration  to  describe  the  situation. 
"Vegetation  is  so  rank  in  our  country,"  he  said, 
"that  before  we  can  do  any  planting  we  have  to  set 
fire  to  the  fields.  It  seemed  to  me  that  in  the 
multiplicity  of  laws  and  precedents  we  had  in- 
herited in  relation  to  financial  matters,  there  was 
nothing  to  do  but  destroy  before  trying  to  build 
anew.  Naturally  every  change  brought  a  storm  of 
protests,  but  we  weathered  the  storm. 

"I  found,  for  instance,  that  we  were  not  taxing 
exports,  and  as  our  exports  are  entirely  raw  ma- 
[184] 


FINANCE  AND  THE  BANKS 


terials,  it  seemed  to  me  that  we  were  overlooking 
an  excellent  source  of  revenue. 

"When  it  became  known  that  export  taxes  were 
in  contemplation,  I  received  a  request  for  an  in- 
terview from  a  lawyer,  and  when  he  came  he 
brought  with  him  a  stack  of  books,  all,  he  informed 
me,  the  highest  authorities  on  economics  and  taxa- 
tion, in  order  to  prove  that  export  taxes  were  im- 
possible. 'Neither  Great  Britain,  nor  France,  nor 
Germany  nor  the  United  States,  uses  the  export  tax,' 
he  said.  'It  is  contrary  to  the  policy  of  all  civilized 
countries.' 

"It  was  in  vain  that  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  the 
countries  he  named  exported  chiefly  manufactured 
goods,  not  raw  materials,  and  that  our  country  dif- 
fered in  all  respects  from  the  economic  needs  of 
the  powers  he  named. 

"He  went  away  despairing  of  the  future  of 
Mexico,  and  convinced  that  it  was  useless  to  argue 
with  a  man  who  couldn't  see  reason. 

"Ten  years  from  now,  he  may  be  able  to  realize 
that  we  were  right,  for  we  obtained  a  large  and 
necessary  increase  of  revenue  in  a  way  which  the 
people  have  hardly  felt." 

On  the  same  excellent  authority  I  am  able  to  say 
that  the  increase  in  the  federal  revenues  during  the 
last  three  months  has  been  so  great  as  to  inspire  new 
confidence  throughout  the  administration. 

To  illustrate  the  importance  of  this  one  reform, 
[185] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

the  taxation  of  exports,  I  quote  from  reports  of  our 
Department  of  Commerce  at  Washington,  the  state- 
ment that  imports  from  Mexico  to  the  United  States 
for  the  last  fiscal  year  were  $140,000,000  and  ex- 
ports from  the  United  States  to  Mexico  during  the 
same  period  were  $106,893,653.  There  has  been 
a  steady  upward  trend  since  1912,  when,  accord- 
ing to  the  same  authority,  our  imports  from  Mexico 
were  only  $65,915,313,  and  our  exports  to  Mexico 
$52,847,129.  In  1913  Mexico  drew  48  per  cent, 
of  its  imports  from  the  United  States,  and  sent  in 
exchange  76  per  cent,  of  its  imports,  and  this  pro- 
portion for  the  subsequent  years  has  steadily  grown 
in  our  favour. 

In  a  message  to  Congress  in  1918,  President  Car- 
ranza  announced  that  the  Government  had  been  able 
to  cover  "all  indispensable  expenditures"  out  of  the 
federal  revenues.  In  1917  the  congress  had  ap- 
proved a  budget  of  187,000,000  pesos.  The 
budget,  according  to  President  Carranza's  statement 
to  the  chamber  of  deputies,  Sept.  26,  1918,  should 
be  based  on  a  prospective  income  of  $149,384 
pesos,  of  which  I  give  the  most  important  items: 

Import  duties $25,000,000 

Export  duties 14,000,000 

Federal  contributions  (from  the 

several  states  of  the  Republic) . .  .     31,000,000 
[186] 


FINANCE  AND  THE  BANKS 


General  stamp  taxes 13,000,000 

Duties  on  gold,  silver,  etc 13,000,000 

Petroleum  lands 7,000,000 

Petroleum 12,000,000 

While  the  Government  is  paying  its  way,  and 
may  be  able  to  do  much  better  in  the  future,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  payment  of  interest  on 
foreign  loans  has  not  been  met.  The  treasury  de- 
partment figured  that  as  the  Government  was  wholly 
dependent  upon  immediate  income,  actual  running 
expenses  must  first  be  met,  and  that  it  was  better  to 
pay  the  interest  in  part  only,  and  until  better  times 
were  at  hand. 

There  has  been  no  disposition,  however,  to  repu- 
diate any  legitimate  claims.  It  is  true  that  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Constitutionalist  Government  it 
was  resolved  to  repudiate  all  the  loans  Huerta 
might  have  made  abroad,  but,  to  again  quote  Pres- 
ident Carranza's  message  to  congress: 

"Nevertheless,  the  Constitutionalist  Government 
does  not  shirk  the  recognition  of  all  legitmate  obli- 
gations contracted  previous  to  the  revolution,  and 
consequently  considers  as  outstanding  the  debts 
covered  by  Huerta's  administration  with  bonds  or 
funds  acquired  by  means  of  unlawful  loans." 

The  amount  of  the  public  debt  at  the  beginning 
of  1913  was  approximately  427,000,000  pesos,  and 
up  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  year,  interest  due 
[187] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

and  pending  payment  to  date  approximated  75,- 
000,000. 

The  four  years'  struggle  before  the  Constitu- 
tionalist Government  came  into  its  own  cost  Mexico 
about  125,000,000  pesos  of  debt,  of  which  the 
items  are: 

Paper  money  to  be  redeemed  at  10  per 

cent,   gold 80,000,000 

Vera  Cruz  paper  money 5,000,000 

Loans  from  banks 20,000,000 

Debts  and  amounts  due  employes ....     20,000,000 

Aside  then,  from  the  claims  of  the  railways, 
which  I  propose  to  discuss  later,  the  national  debt 
of  Mexico  may  be  stated  at  627,000,000  pesos,  the 
greater  part  of  which  is  at  5  per  cent.  Pesos  have 
been  and  are  now  two  for  a  dollar,  so  that  reckoned 
in  our  currency,  the  obligations  might  be  discharged 
for  $313,500,000,  a  sum  which  would  be  astonish- 
ingly small  for  a  nation  of  14,000,000  souls  in 
normal  condition  and  in  times  of  peace.  And 
Mexico's  internal  troubles  lasted  nearly  a  decade. 

Maintenance  of  the  army  has  naturally  been  the 
largest  item  of  expense  up  to  the  present  time,  and 
will  continue  to  be  so  until  the  few  remaining 
"istas"  are  wiped  out.  The  cost  of  civil  war  in  con- 
trast to  civil  government  is  strikingly  shown  in 
figures  supplied  by  the  general  treasury  covering 
[188] 


FINANCE  AND  THE  BANKS 


the  revolution's  disbursements  from  the  beginning 
of  General  Carranza's  struggle  against  Huerta  up 
to  1917,  following  his  election  as  president  of  the 
republic.  The  total  receipts  for  taxes  collected  by 
the  treasury  in  this  period  were  pesos  75,000,000 
gold  and  236,000,000  paper.  The  disbursements 
were  pesos  95,417,400  gold  and  855,818,900 
paper.  The  war  department  received  pesos  61,- 
554,096  gold  and  656,800,958  paper. 

Material  reduction  has  already  been  effected 
in  the  cost  of  the  war  department,  so  as  to  leave  ad- 
ditional funds  for  agricultural  development  and 
public  works,  and  figures  to  be  presented  at  the  as- 
sembling of  the  Congress  in  April  next  may  be  ex- 
pected to  give  receipts  and  expenses  in  detail.  And 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  six  months  ended  as  this 
book  goes  to  press  have  been  both  as  to  the  extent  of 
foreign  trade  and  governmental  income,  the  most 
prosperous  in  the  history  of  Mexico. 


[189] 


CHAPTER  SIXTEEN:    RAILWAYS  AND 
NATIONALIZATION 

When  I  wrote  in  discussing  Mexican  finance  that 
for  the  time  being  the  railway  interests  here  were 
"no  worse  off  for  the  moment  than  in  our  own 
country,"  I  had  in  mind,  of  course,  the  owners  of 
stocks  and  bonds.  Their  property  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  Government,  and  is  badly  in  need  of  repairs, 
improvements  and  new  rolling  stock,  but  it  is  a 
definite  and  valuable  property  for  which  the  Gov- 
ernment has  given  guarantees,  and  which  must  in- 
crease in  value  during  the  reconstruction  period,  for 
the  natural  wealth  of  this  country  is  inexhaustible, 
and,  under  whatever  government,  the  railways  are 
essential  to  its  development.  Repairs  and  improve- 
ments are  underway,  new  rolling  stock  has  actually 
been  purchased  in  the  United  States,  machine  and 
repair  shops  have  been  established,  and  it  must  be 
remembered  that  during  the  war,  our  Government 
almost  crippled  itself  in  the  endeavour  to  supply 
railway  material  to  France,  and  was  not  in  position 
to  supply  the  necessities  of  a  neutral  nation. 

Where  else  was  Mexico  to  buy? 

I  assume  that  the  U.  S.  Treasury  has  been  meet- 
[190] 


RAILWAYS  AND  NATIONALIZATION 

ing  interest  on  railway  securities  promptly.  I  feel 
convinced  that  the  Mexican  treasury  will  do  so  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment.  I  assume  that  the 
return  of  the  railways  to  private  ownership  in  the 
United  States  the  terms  and  the  time,  is  still  an 
open  question.  The  tendency  in  Mexico  during 
the  last  twenty  years  has  been  to  nationalize  rails, 
and  the  experience  of  the  last  few  years  has 
strengthened  this  tendency,  and  I  see  no  manifesta- 
tion of  an  inclination  there  to  revert  to  private 
ownership. 

Most  of  us  can  recall  that  when  the  revolution 
took  possession  of  all  railways  in  Mexico  there  was 
an  outcry  throughout  the  money  markets  of  the 
world.  Shareholders  and  bondholders  alike  were 
alarmed  at  what  they  regarded  as  confiscation  of 
private  property.  The  foreign  investments  were 
large  enough  to  justify  strong  diplomatic  represen- 
tations, in  which  Great  Britain,  France  and  the 
United  States,  all  took  part. 

But  when  our  country  took  over  the  railways  as  a 
matter  of  military  necessity,  it  was  with  the  assent 
of  people,  press,  and  politicians. 

If  government  control  of  rails  was  necessary  in 
a  foreign  war,  and  if  Mr.  McAdoo  was  right  in 
urging  a  continuation  "for  experimental  purposes" 
of  government  control  for  a  five  year  period  after 
the  war,  perhaps  Mexico,  facing  the  difficulties  of 
civil  war,  was  justified  in  seizing  the  rails.  Per- 
[191] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

haps  she  is  right  is  declining  to  consider  a  return  to 
private  ownership  until  Villa,  Pelaez,  and  Felix 
Diaz  have  definitely  retired  from  business. 

However,  conditions  here  and  at  home  differed 
widely.  Railway  development  in  Mexico  began 
during  the  rule  of  Porfirio  Diaz,  under  concessions 
he  granted  to  private  companies.  In  most  cases 
these  concessions  provided  for  the  automatic  return 
of  the  roads  to  the  Government  after  ninety  years, 
on  compensation  for  rolling  stock,  buildings  and 
materials  on  hand  at  the  date  of  transfer. 

The  Government  began  buying  stock  in  the  three 
most  important  lines  toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  and  in  1906,  having  united  the  three  most 
important  lines  under  the  name  of  the  National 
Railways  of  Mexico,  and  owning  50.3  per  cent,  of 
the  stock,  extended  its  control  over  other  roads. 

In  1910,  when  President  Diaz  retired,  the  Govern- 
ment owned  or  controlled  8,200  miles  of  track. 
There  remained  under  private  ownership  7,800 
miles,  of  which  3,000  was  local  narrow  gauge  of 
relatively  small  importance.  To  be  exact  the  Gov- 
ernment was  a  majority  stockholder  in  a  system 
comprising  the  National  Railroad  of  Mexico,  the 
Mexican  International,  the  Hidalgo  and  North- 
eastern, the  Vera  Cruz  and  Isthmus,  the  Pan-Ameri- 
can, the  Mexican  Southern,  and  operated  the  In- 
teroceanic  Railway  of  Mexico  under  lease.  Most 
of  the  stock  not  Government  owned  was  held  by 
[192] 


RAILWAYS  AND  NATIONALIZATION 

Americans,  who  were  also  interested  largely  in  all 
other  important  lines. 

In  1902  it  was  estimated  by  the  American  consul 
general  that  70  per  cent,  of  the  $500,000,000 
American  capital  invested  in  Mexico  was  in  rail- 
roads. Five  years  later,  according  to  our  Depart- 
ment of  Labour  and  Commerce,  the  American  in- 
vestments had  grown  to  $750,000,000,  of  which 
two-thirds  was  in  rails. 

By  1912,  Consul  Marion  Letcher,  at  Chihuahua, 
estimated  the  total  American  investments  in  Mexico 
at  $1,057,770,000,  and  British  investment  at 
$321,303,000. 

According  to  his  figures  railroad  investments 
were  as  follows: 

American  capital $235,464,000 

British  capital 81,238,000 

Mexican   capital 125,000,000 

Holdings  in  railroad  bonds: 

American   capital $408,926,000 

British  capital 87,680,000 

Mexican  capital 12,275,000 

But  while  Mr.  Letcher's  figures  are  generally  ac- 
cepted as  correct  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  Ameri- 
can, British  and  Mexican  capital  invested  in  rails, 
he  appears  to  have  overlooked  the  fact  that  the 
French  have  invested  $143,466,000  in  Mexico, 
[193] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

and  that  of  this  sum,  $17,000,000  is  in  railway 
bonds. 

The  total  holdings  of  all  other  countries  in  Mexi- 
can rails  is  $75,000  in  stocks,  and  $38,535,380  in 
bonds.  The  Mexican  figures  in  the  above  tabula- 
tion are  representative  of  private  capital  only. 

What  happened  to  the  railways,  however,  is  told 
thus  by  President  Carranza  in  a  message  to 
congress: 

"Since  the  First  Chief  entered  the  capital,  the 
Government  has  felt  the  necessity  of  taking  over 
some  of  the  principal  railway  lines  of  the  country, 
not  only  for  the  purpose  of  moving  troops,  pro- 
visions, arms  and  ammunitions  promptly  and  at 
the  proper  time,  but  also  to  facilitate  the  necessary 
means  of  coumunication  and  transportation  to  the 
people  in  the  territories  occupied  by  the  Constitu- 
tional forces. 

"But  when  the  revolution  triumphed  and  rebel 
bands  of  importance  were  disbanded,  I  thought  the 
time  had  arrived  for  returning  these  lines  to  their 
former  owners,  and,  therefore,  began  by  relinquish- 
ing the  railway  line  running  from  this  capital  to 
Vera  Cruz,  known  as  the  Mexican  Railway. 

"Since  the  railway  was  returned  to  its  owners, 
developments  have  demonstrated  that  they  are  un- 
able to  keep  it  in  service,  as  they  could  not  prevent 
frequent  assaults  on  trains  by  small  bands  of 
bandits.  As  it  is  of  vital  importance  that  this  line, 
[194] 


RAILWAYS  AND  NATIONALIZATION 

be  kept  in  operation  and  that  passengers  be  pro- 
tected, I  have  deemed  it  absolutely  necessary  to 
again  take  it  over,  and  have  appointed  as  its 
manager  Lieutenant  Colonel  Paulino  Fontes,  who 
will  carry  on  the  administration  independently  from 
the  other  lines  that  make  up  the  National  Railway 
System. 

"The  First  Chief  has  also  just  ordered  the  taking 
over  of  the  National  Tehuantepec  Railway,  ap- 
pointing Mr.  Rosendo  Mauri,  as  manager. 

"Finally,  the  attachment  of  the  Alvarado  to  the 
Vera  Cruz  Railway,  and  the  Terminal  Station  at 
Vera  Cruz  have  been  decreed." 

I  hold  no  brief  for  the  Mexican  Government  in 
the  matter  of  its  railway  administration  or  anything 
else,  nor  am  I  about  to  make  an  appeal  on  behalf 
of  American  capital,  but  I  have  tried  to  explain 
control  here  where  the  Government  is  hard  pressed 
for  money,  in  the  light  of  control  in  our  own 
country,  which  is  the  richest  in  the  world. 

After  making  the  above  explanation  of  his  mo- 
tives in  taking  over  the  railroads,  President  Car- 
ranza  admitted  that  the  National  Railways  of 
Mexico  were  "debtors  for  capital  and  interest  ma- 
tured up  to  the  first  of  July  (1917)  for  the  sum  of 
71,388,790.26  pesos."  Doubtless  this  sum  has 
been  considerably  increased,  as  net  earnings  of 
the  railways  appear  to  be  devoted  to  the  expenses 
of  Government,  and  the  payment  of  interest  has  not 
[195] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

been  regarded  as  an  "indispensable  expenditure" 
for  the  time  being.     But  tfre  President  added : 

"The  Mexican  Government  is  responsible  for  part 
of  that  sum,  which  is  that  representing  the  interest 
on  the  4  per  cent,  guarantee  bonds  of  general 
mortgage  of  the  National  Railways,  in  accordance 
with  the  organization  plan  of  said  company  and  the 
decree  of  July  6,  1907,  and  which  will  up  to  the  first 
of  July  of  the  present  year  (1917)  amount  to  the 
sum  of  $6,089,829,  U.  S.  currency. 

"This  debt  has  been  created  by  the  impossibility 
of  the  company  meeting  such  obligations,  owing  to 
the  attachment  of  its  lines  in  accordance  with  the 
dispositions  of  the  railway  law,  and  it  possesses 
legal  status  derived  from  the  obligations  contracted 
by  the  Mexican  Government  towards  the  holders  of 
the  bonds  of  the  above  referred  general  mortgage." 

Included  in  the  roads  taken  over  by  the  Govern- 
ment are: 

Southern  Pacific  Railway  of  Mexico,  which  owns 
1,341  miles  of  track,  and  is  still  operated  through 
the  American  management  representing  the  owners. 

Mexican  and  Northwestern  Railway  Company, 
which  controls  496  miles  of  track  between  El  Paso 
and  Chihuahua,  or  did  until  the  "patriotic"  Villistas 
wrecked  it.  Owned  by  British  capital. 

Mexico  City  and  Vera  Cruz  road,  built  by  British 
capital  and  operating  402  miles  of  track  between 
port  and  capital. 

[196] 


RAILWAYS  AND  NATIONALIZATION 

The  American  owned  Kansas  City,  Mexico  and 
Orient  Railway,  with  349  miles  of  track  has  not 
changed  hands. 

The  director  general  of  the  Constitutionalist  rail- 
ways was  an  engineer,  Alberto  J.  Pani,  who  was 
also  secretary  of  commerce,  industry  and  labour  in 
President  Carranza's  cabinet.  His  last  budget  for 
repairs  disclosed  the  following  items,  the  figures 
standing  for  pesos:  tracks,  27,393,617;  in  which 
are  included  the  purchase  of  16,000  cross  ties, 
86,671  tons  of  rails,  tools,  etc.;  repair  and  recon- 
struction of  buildings,  2,774,000;  bridges,  8,558,- 
000,048;  new  rolling  stock,  5,000,000;  repair  of 
rolling  stock  now  in  use,  4,000,000,  new  fuel 
stations,  769,000;  small  buildings,  loading  stations, 
fences,  etc.,  379,000.  The  total  bill  would  be  on 
this  estimate  31,873,665  pesos. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  President,  con- 
gress authorized  a  foreign  loan  of  300,000,000 
pesos  for  the  purpose  of  rehabilitating  the  railways, 
and  of  establishing  a  new  national  bank  of  issue, 
but  up  to  this  time  the  money  markets  of  the  world 
have  been  disinclined  to  make  favourable  terms, 
and  the  loan  has  not  been  consummated. 

There  is  a  probability,  also  that  the  matters  of 
rails  and  banks  will  not  be  lumped  together  next 
time,  which  leads  me  to  note  that  while  I  make  no 
claim  to  special  knowledge  of  banking  matters,  I 
seem  to  have  acquired  more  information  in  a  week 
[197] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

than  some  of  our  largest  banks  possess,  and  that  it 
is  my  duty  to  pass  it  along. 

Finding  only  metallic  money  in  use  in  Mexico 
City,  I  wished  to  open  a  small  checking  account, 
as  a  matter  of  convenience,  and  took  the  letter  of 
credit  issued  by  one  of  the  best  known  banking 
houses  in  New  York  to  the  institution  named  in  its 
printed  list  of  correspondents. 

Probably  I  was  the  only  caller  that  day  at  the 
palatial  offices  of  the  Banco  de  Londres  y  Mexico. 
They  seemed  deserted,  although  an  office  force  re- 
mained in  possession,  a  very  small  office  force  in- 
deed. Finally  the  manager  presented  himself,  and 
explained  that  to  his  deep  regret  he  could  do  noth- 
ing for  me. 

Was  there  any  disposition  to  question  either  my 
identity,  or  the  credit  of  my  New  York  banker? 

Not  the  slightest,  but  it  seemed  incredible  that 
the  so  well  known  New  York  house  should  not  be 
aware  that  for  a  period  of  six  years  the  Government 
had  not  permitted  the  bank  to  transact  business.  I 
would  do  well  to  make  myself  known  elsewhere,  for 
example  at  the  offices  of  the  Bank  of  Montreal, 
Avenida  5  de  Mayo. 

Profiting  by  this  excellent  advice,  I  made  myself 
known  to  the  Bank  of  Montreal,  where  I  speedily 
transferred  dollars  from  a  letter  of  credit  into 
pesos  at  a  much  better  discount  than  the  peso  and 
ninety  centavos  I  had  been  obliged  to  accept  in 
[198] 


RAILWAYS  AND  NATIONALIZATION 

Vera  Cruz,  and  was  provided  with  a  pass-book  and 
check-book,  such  as  we  use  at  home,  only,  of 
course,  with  Spanish  substituted  for  the  English 
language.  I  was  informed  that  a  stamp  must  be 
affixed  to  all  checks  under  100  pesos  to  the  value  of 
five  centavos,  and  to  the  value  of  ten  centavos  for 
each  100  pesos  on  checks  for  larger  amounts. 

And  then  I  learned  that  there  were  two  small  but 
sound  private  American  banks  in  the  capital,  a 
strong  German  bank,  and  plenty  of  other  banks 
representing  foreign  or  domestic  interests.  This 
aroused  my  curiosity  regarding  the  "London  Bank." 
I  turned  to  the  treasury  of  information  I  have  so 
often  quoted,  President  Carranza's  speech  to  con- 
gress in  1917,  where  I  found  this  explanation: 

"Commencing  with  General  Diaz's  Government, 
the  banking  system  of  Mexico,  placed  on  a  con- 
cessionary basis,  implied  a  system  of  privilege,  the 
defects  of  which  had  been  apparent  a  long  time. 

"The  banks  of  issue  of  Mexico  loaned  to  Huerta's 
Government  to  help  it  in  its  struggle  against  the 
Constitutionalist  Government,  approximately  forty 
six  and  a  half  million  pesos.  Huerta  decreed,  in 
exchange,  the  obligatory  circulation  of  their  bills, 
which  the  constitutionalist  government  found  still 
in  circulation  upon  occupying  the  city  of  Mexico. 

"The  Constitutionalist  Government,  busy  with 
other  details  of  the  campaign,  could  not  immedi- 
ately take  up  banking  matters,  notwithstanding  the 
[199]  ' 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

fact  that  it  was  notorious  that  the  banks  were  its 
financially  powerful  enemies. 

"The  banks  could  not,  on  the  other  hand,  re- 
establish the  obligatory  circulation  of  their  bills, 
as,  even  if  some  of  them  held  their  reserves  prac- 
tically intact  had  they  been  required  to  redeem 
their  bills  at  par,  they  would  have  been  obliged  to 
enter  into  liquidation. 

"Inasmuch  as  the  Government  did  not  wish  the 
large  sums  in  metallic  reserves  massed  by  and 
stored  in  the  banks  to  disappear,  it  preferred  to  take 
certain  measures  to  prevent  these  amounts  from  be- 
ing disposed  of.  To  this  effect  a  decree  was  issued, 
ordering  the  banks  to  complete  their  reserves.  As 
this  disposition  did  not  obtain  the  desired  results 
it  became  necessary  for  the  Government  to  order 
the  attachment  of  the  banks.  This  was  effected 
practically  by  merely  placing  the  management  of 
these  institutions  in  the  hands  of  an  attachment 
board. 

"The  banking  problem  is  still  unsolved,  for,  al- 
though the  constituent  congress  decreed  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  national  bank  of  issue,  the  definite 
standing  of  the  banks  has  not  and  cannot  be  de- 
termined until  the  national  bank  of  issue,  which  is 
designed  to  replace  all  other  banking  institutions, 
can  be  placed  in  operation. 

"  Forced  by  circumstances,  the  Constitutionalist 
Government  was  obliged  to  draw  from  the  banks  ap- 
[200] 


RAILWAYS  AND  NATIONALIZATION 

proximately  twenty  million  pesos,  to  cover  its  needs. 
This  represents  a  debt  toward  the  banks  which  the 
Government  has  assumed  and  recognized  as  a  loan 
on  short  terms,  and  for  which  it  is  ready  to  offer  a 
sufficient  guarantee.  I  desire  to  call  the  attention 
of  Congress  to  the  fact  that  .the  Government  drew 
money  from  the  banks'  reserves  only  when  paper 
money  became  absolutely  discredited  and  could  not 
be  circulated. 

"I  must  point  out  also  that  the  National  Bank  of 
Mexico  and  the  Bank  of  London  and  Mexico  alone 
loaned  the  usurper  twenty  million  pesos." 


[201] 


CHAPTER  SEVENTEEN:     PETROLEUM 
AND  POLITICS 

Primarily  petroleum  has  been  a  political  prob- 
lem in  Mexico,  and  still  is.  That  one  of  the 
greatest  sources  of  Mexico's  natural  wealth  should 
be  exploited  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of 
foreigners,  especially  at  a  time  when  the  Govern- 
ment needs  funds  for  reconstruction  purposes,  is  an 
absurdity  quite  obvious.  Some  form  of  taxation 
must  be  devised  by  which  petroleum  shall  pay  its 
share  toward  the  common  weal,  and  this  can  be 
achieved  without  conflict  between  Mexican  and 
American  interests  when  the  political  issue  has  been 
disposed  of. 

It  is  frequently  said  by  the  enemies  of  General 
Carranza,  both  in  Mexico  and  at  home,  that  he 
"backed  the  wrong  horse"  in  the  world  war.  This 
criticism  would  be  well  founded  if  applied  to  the 
oil  interests  at  Tampico.  They  backed  Villa  to 
win,  and  at  the  quarter  he  may  have  been  a  nose 
ahead,  but  the  race  is  over,  and  Villa  is  hidden  in 
a  cloud  of  dust  among  the  "also  rans." 

Legislation  based  on  the  new  constitution  will 
eliminate  the  retroactive  features  of  Article  27, 
which,  as  it  now  stands,  appears  to  confiscate  the 
[202] 


PETROLEUM  AND  POLITICS 


property  of  the  oil  interests.  In  a  word,  Mexico 
will  claim  all  future  oil  discoveries  as  the  nation's 
property,  without  disturbing  the  private  ownership 
of  oil  fields  now  in  operation.  Let  Article  27, 
which  I  quote,  speak  for  itself,  but  I  am  reminded 
of  the  question  sometimes  asked  in  our  own  glorious 
republic.  "What  is  the  constitution  between 
friends?" 

"The  ownership  of  lands  and  waters  comprised 
within  the  limits  of  the  national  territory  is  vested 
originally  in  the  nation,  which  had,  and  has,  the 
right  to  transmit  title  thereof  to  private  persons, 
thereby  constituting  private  property. 

"Private  property  shall  not  be  expropriated  ex- 
cept for  reasons  of  public  utility  and  by  means  of 
indemnification. 

"The  nation  shall  have  at  all  times  the  right  to 
impose  on  private  property  such  limitations  as  the 
public  interest  may  demand  as  well  as  the  right  to 
regulate  the  development  of  natural  resources, 
which  are  susceptible  of  appropriation,  in  order 
to  conserve  them  and  equitably  to  distribute  the 
public  wealth.  For  this  purpose  necessary 
measures  shall  be  taken  to  divide  large  landed 
estates;  to  develop  small  landed  holdings;  to 
establish  new  centres  of  rural  population  with  such 
lands  and  waters  as  may  be  indispensable  to  them; 
to  encourage  agriculture  and  to  prevent  the  destruc- 
tion of  natural  resources,  and  to  protect  property 
[203] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

from  damage  detrimental  to  society.  Settlements, 
hamlets  situated  on  private  property  and  communes 
which  lack  lands  or  water  or  do  not  possess  them  in 
sufficient  quantities  for  their  needs  shall  have  the 
right  to  be  provided  with  them  from  the  adjoining 
properties,  always  having  due  regard  for  small 
landed  holdings.  Wherefore,  all  grants  of  lands 
made  up  to  the  present  time  under  the  decree  of 
January  6,  1915,  are  confirmed.  Private  property 
acquired  for  the  said  purposes  shall  be  considered 
as  taken  for  public  utility. 

"In  the  nation  is  vested  direct  ownership  of  all 
minerals  or  substances  which  in  veins,  layers, 
masses,  or  beds  constitute  deposits  whose  nature  is 
different  from  the  components  of  the  land,  such  as 
minerals  from  which  metals  and  metaloids  used 
for  industrial  purposes  are  extracted;  beds  of 
precious  stones,  rock  salt,  and  salt  lakes  formed 
directly  by  marine  waters,  products  derived  from 
the  decomposition  of  rocks,  when  their  exploitation 
requires  underground  work;  phosphates  which  may 
be  used  as  fertilizers;  solid  mineral  fuels;  petro- 
leum and  all  hydrocarbons — solid  liquid  or 
gaseous.  .  .  .  The  ownership  of  the  nation  is  in- 
alienable and  may  not  be  lost  by  prescription;  con- 
cessions shall  be  granted  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  private  parties  or  civil  or  commercial  cor- 
porations organized  under  the  laws  of  Mexico,  only 
on  condition  that  said  resources  be  regularly  de- 
[204] 


PETROLEUM  AND  POLITICS 

veloped,  and  on  the  further  condition  that  the  legal 
provisions  be  observed." 

Article  27  likewise  declares  public  ownership  of 
inland  waters,  prohibits  churches  from  owning  real 
property,  irrespective  of  creed,  and  declares  all 
such  property  to  be  that  of  the  nation.  It  likewise 
defines  other  real  property  rights  of  national,  but 
not  international  interest. 

The  regular  session  of  the  Mexican  congress  is 
expected  during  the  winter  of  1919—20  to  enact 
laws  which  will  put  Article  27  into  effect,  but  with- 
out injustice  either  to  the  church  or  to  the  petroleum 
concessionaires. 

The  Mexican  view  of  Article  27  is  based  on  the 
old  Spanish  law  of  real  property.  The  American 
view  is  based  on  the  old  English  law  of  real 
property,  by  which  the  owner  in  fee  is  proprietor 
not  only  of  the  surface  soil,  but  of  all  that  is  be- 
neath, as  of  the  air  above.  From  the  American 
viewpoint  mining  coal  or  iron  or  gold  or  silver  or 
coal  would  not  be  justified  beyond  the  territory  to 
which  operator  had  a  legal  right.  But  if  by  sink- 
ing a  well,  a  man  drained  a  vast  territory  rich  in 
natural  gas  or  oil  quite  beyond  the  boundaries  of 
his  own  property,  he  would  be  within  his  legal 
rights,  and  an  uncommonly  lucky  chap,  much  to 
be  envied. 

Spanish  land  grants  conveyed  merely  the  sur- 
face soil,  suitable  for  agriculture,  reserving 
[205] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

mineral  rights  to  the  state.  Coal,  natural  gas  and 
petroleum  were  not  specifically  included  because 
their  value  was  unknown. 

But  if  mineral  oil  is  as  great  a  source  of  wealth 
as  ore,  is  it  not  logical  to  apply  the  legal  principles 
governing  mines  in  general?  From  the  Mexican 
point  of  view  it  would  be  inconsistent  to  do  other- 
wise, hence  there  is  no  probability  that  the  Govern- 
ment here  will  recede  from  the  application  of 
Article  27  to  future  petroleum  developments.  But 
I  doubt  if  it  was  ever  seriously  intended  to  con- 
fiscate the  existing  and  developed  oil  fields.  That 
feature  of  Article  27  was  political. 

The  new  constitution  was  signed  and  promulgated 
at  Queretaro  de  Arteaga,  January  31,  1917.  It 
contains  many  radical  features  of  which  certain 
of  the  First  Chief's  wisest  advisers  disapproved,  but 
which  they  were  obliged  to  accept.  General  Car- 
ranza's  power  was  not  established  on  the  firm  basis 
now  achieved,  and  the  oil  interests,  although  subject 
to  the  First  Chief's  customs  authorities  in  Tampico, 
had  set  up  a  state  within  a  state  in  the  oil  jungle, 
commanded  by  "General"  Manuel  Pelaez  and 
"General"  Enriquez,  who  pretended  to  hold 
subordinate  authority  from  Villa,  and  who  were 
therefore  and  are,  rebels  in  the  eyes  of  the  then 
First  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalists,  now  President 
of  the  United  States  of  Mexico. 
[206] 


PETROLEUM  AND  POLITICS 


The  oil  interests  justified  themselves  not  only 
to  themselves  but  to  their  Governments,  by  repre- 
senting that  it  was  necessary  to  maintain  the  se- 
curity of  their  establishments,  that  Mexico's  at- 
titude toward  the  United  States  and  the  Allies  was 
doubtful,  that  they  had  no  concern  with  Mexican 
politics,  that  their  business  was  to  produce  and  ship 
oil,  and  if  it  was  necessary  to  pay  two  conflicting 
sets  of  officials  in  order  to  do  business,  they  were 
still  obliged  to  do  business. 

I  have  heard  it  said  in  my  own  country  that  cor- 
porations are  soulless  things,  organized  to  make 
money.  Perhaps  they  are  soulless.  Certainly 
they  sometimes  lack  vision,  for  what  happened  in 
the  Mexican  oil  fields  is  precisely  what  happened 
some  years  ago  in  the  Santo  Domingo  cane  fields 
though  on  a  much  larger  scale.  American  capital 
had  developed  a  great  sugar  estate,  and  was  prepar- 
ing to  put  in  a  mill.  Even  a  small  sugar  mill 
in  these  days  costs  $1,000,000  or  more.  What  the 
management  desired  above  all  things  was  security, 
so  when  a  local  political  chieftain  offered  to 
establish  a  guard  to  prevent  bandits  from  destroying 
the  property,  his  offer  was  accepted. 

The  guard  consisted  first  of  half  a  dozen  ragged 

fellows,  who  soon  grew  slick  from  good  feeding, 

and  began  to  assume  an  air  of  importance  in  the 

neighbourhood.     In  due  course  the  guard  became 

[207] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

an  army,  and  its  chief  a  "General,"  and  the  whole 
outfit  equally  a  nuisance  to  the  Government  and  to 
the  American  sugar  planters. 

It  was  a  cancerous  growth  which  required  a 
capital  operation,  this  little  "army"  built  up  by 
American  capital.  In  Santo  Domingo  City  the 
"General"  was  referred  to  as  a  bandit,  and  a  force 
of  Marines  was  sent  out  to  put  him  out  of  business. 
The  "General"  asserted  that  on  his  word  of  honour 
he  was  not  a  bandit  but  a  patriot.  That  made  no 
difference.  Both  "General"  and  "army"  were 
exterminated. 

In  Tampico  the  "army"  has  had  the  same  mush- 
room growth.  Two  years  ago  Carl  W.  Ackerman 
wrote,  apparently  on  information  derived  from  the 
oil  men  themselves: 

"Pelaez  and  his  army — estimated  at  3,000  to 
27,000  men,  depending  upon  the  authority  quoted 
— get  $40,000  a  month  protection  money  from  the 
oil  companies.  Carranza  gets  $100,000,  in  taxes 
every  month  from  the  Standard  Oil  Company; 
$200,000  a  month  from  the  Huasteca  Petroleum 
Company,  and  more  from  the  Lord  Cowdray  in- 
terests. The  oil  producers  maintain  Pelaez,  his 
soldiers  and  his  government,  and  they  contribute 
more  than  any  other  foreign  interest  toward  the 
revenues  of  the  present  Mexican  government." 

The  retroactive  feature  of  Article  27  was  in  retal- 
iation. It  was  in  line  with  a  decree  issued  by  the 
[208] 


PETROLEUM  AND  POLITICS 


Constitutionalist  Government  in  August,  1914, 
establishing  a  petroleum  department,  invalidating 
all  oil  transactions  made  during  Huerta's  admini- 
stration, and  with  the  assumption  of  Government 
control  of  oil  production  decreed  in  Vera  Cruz, 
January  7,  1915.  A  petroleum  commission  was 
created  for  technical  study,  and  it  is  an  open  secret 
that  the  Government  has  been  conducting  explora- 
tions for  oil  on  its  own  account  for  several  years. 

Concessions  granted  to  Robleda  Coss  y  Brito  for 
the  exclusive  privileges  of  exploiting  petroleum 
in  four  zones  of  100  kilometers  each  in  the  States 
of  Taumalipas  and  Vera  Cruz  were  cancelled.  The 
same  action  was  taken  regarding  concessions  to  De 
la  Barra  y  Bringas  in  the  State  of  Chiapas,  and  the 
Aguila  Oil  Co.,  S.  A.  (Cowdray's  Mexican  Eagle 
Co.).  At  the  same  time  five  concessions  were 
granted  for  laying  pipe  lines  for  public  use,  and 
three  pipe  lines  for  private  use.  Concessions  for 
the  establishment  of  refineries  and  the  extension 
of  those  already  in  use  were  granted  to  the  Huasteca 
Petroleum  Co.  (Doheny)  and  the  Aguila  Oil  Co., 
but  steps  were  taken  to  put  a  stop  to  speculation 
in  "wildcat"  companies  by  the  imposition  of  heavy 
inspection  fees.  More  than  100  of  these  com- 
panies speedily  disappeared. 

Enough  has  been  written  to  show  that  President 
Carranza  has  been  making  earnest  efforts  to  control 
the  oil  industry,  and  why  he  has  repeatedly  de- 
[209] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

nounced  the  oil  corporations  for  their  association 
with  rebels  and  opposition  to  the  established  Gov- 
ernment. 

Perhaps  the  origin  has  been  disclosed  of  the  Car- 
ranza  doctrine,  the  essential  points  of  which  are: 

No  nation  should  intervene  in  any  form  or  for 
any  reason  in  the  affairs  of  another. 

Nationals  and  aliens  should  be  equal  before  the 
sovereignty  of  the  country  in  which  they  reside. 

Diplomacy  should  not  serve  to  protect  private 
interests. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  every  oil  con- 
cession has  been  made  with  a  condition  to  which  the 
concessionaires  pledged  themselves,  that  they  should 
be  regarded  as  Mexican  citizens,  with  no  right  to 
diplomatic  appeal. 

Opposed  to  the  Mexican  official  view  regarding 
the  retroactive  features  of  Article  27,  the  position 
of  the  United  States  was  voiced  in  a  protest  from 
Ambassador  Fletcher,  April  2,  1918,  in  which  he 
said: 

"The  United  States  cannot  acquiesce  in  any  pro- 
cedure ostensibly  or  nominally  in  the  form  of 
taxation  or  the  exercise  of  eminent  domain,  but 
really  resulting  in  confiscation  of  private  property 
and  arbitrary  deprivation  of  vested  rights." 

Similar  protests  were  sent  by  Great  Britain, 
France  and  the  Netherlands,  whose  "vested  rights" 
[210] 


PETROLEUM  AND  POLITICS 

were  concerned.  Of  the  powers  named,  'Great 
Britain  is  the  only  one  largely  represented  in  the 
oil  fields  at  this  time,  her  investments  being 
estimated  at  $100,000,000,  as  against  $200,- 
000,000  of  American  capital.  It  is  doubtful  if  the 
powers  chiefly  concerned  are  in  complete  accord 
as  to  diplomatic  action  here  with  regard  to  petro- 
leum interests,  but  once  the  ownership  of  the  oil 
fields  held  by  foreign  corporations  is  legitimated, 
the  political  phase  of  the  oil  problem  will  vanish. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  the  future  of 
Mexican  petroleum  production.  It  is  boundless. 
During  the  first  year  of  exploitation  by  the  Doheny- 
Canfield  company  in  the  jungle  to  the  west  of  Tam- 
pico,  1901,  the  production  of  oil  was  10,343 
barrels.  In  1917  it  had  reached  55,000,000  bar- 
rels. A  conservative  estimate  gives  the  capacity  of 
the  Mexican  oil  fields  now  partly  exploited  at  250,- 
000,000  per  annum. 

No  one  in  Mexico  is  so  foolish  as  to  believe  that 
the  fields  in  the  five  districts  now  shipping  oil 
represent  Mexico's  entire  wealth  in  petroleum. 
These  districts  are  Ebano,  forty  miles  west  of  Tam- 
pico;  the  Panuco,  which  includes  the  Topila  region; 
the  Huasteca,  south  of  Tampico,  the  Tuxpan,  in- 
cluding the  Furbero  region,  and  Tehuantepec-Ta- 
basco,  in  none  of  which  is  development  complete. 

These  figures  mean,  if  they  mean  anything,  that 
[211] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Mexico  will  be  the  greatest  oil  producing  country 
in  the  world.  Heretofore  she  has  ranked  third,  the 
United  States  coming  first,  Russia  second. 

Do  they  mean  also  that,  with  oil  fields  to  be  dis- 
covered hereafter  the  property  of  the  Government, 
of  the  nation,  the  United  States  of  Mexico  will  be 
the  world's  richest  republic? 

Quien  sabe? 


[212] 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEEN:    THE  OIL  MEN'S 
VERSION 

To  say  that  the  oil  men  of  Tampico  are  between 
the  Devil  and  the  deep  blue  sea  is  quite  literal. 
The  Devil  is  anarchy.  On  the  land  side  there 
are  two  lines  of  rail  communication,  one  leading  to 
San  Luis  Potosi,  the  other  to  Monterey,  both  im- 
portant cities  on  the  main  highway  from  Laredo  to 
Mexico  City.  Twice  within  the  last  ten  days  I 
spent  in  Mexico  the  northerly  route  to  Monterey 
was  interrupted  by  bandits.  The  first  time  the 
train  from  Tampico  was  blown  up  some  forty  kilo- 
meters from  that  city.  The  passengers  were  not 
injured,  but  were  robbed,  and  their  luggage  either 
stolen  or  burned.  One  American  woman  long  resi- 
dent in  Tampico  says  that  fourteen  soldiers  were 
killed  on  this  train  while  attempting  to  defend  it 
from  the  bandits,  and  that  the  commanding  officer 
of  the  guard,  who  had  entered  the  "first  class"  car, 
was  so  near  her  when  he  fell  with  a  bullet  through 
his  heart,  that  her  clothing  was  stained  with  his 
blood. 

Having  lost  all  her  outfit,  she  returned  to  Tam- 
pico, and  started  north  next  day.  Again  the  train 
[213] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

on  which  she  was  a  passenger  was  dynamited,  and 
also  the  train  to  Tampico  from  Monterey,  but  no 
details  filtered  in  as  to  the  loss  of  life  or  property 
during  my  brief  sojourn. 

Communication  between  Tampico  and  San  Luis 
Potosi  has  not  been  stopped,  but  is  far  from  safe. 

When  I  asked  an  oil  man  in  Tampico  why,  on 
first  attack  on  a  train  they  had  not  cut  off  the  black- 
mail levied  by  Pelaez,  in  which  event  he  would  have 
been  wiped  off  the  map  several  years  ago,  the  reply 
came  promptly  that  they  paid  Pelaez  to  protect 
their  oil  camps,  and  had  no  concern  with  what 
happened  elsewhere. 

"What  would  happen  if  you  refused  to  contri- 
bute further  to  this  outlaw?" 

"Well,  you  see,  he  isn't  an  outlaw,  but  a  revolu- 
tionist. Probably  if  he  failed  to  get  his  money 
he  would  blow  up  our  properties.  He  is  an  oil 
owner  himself,  and  guards  our  camps  with  his  men 
just  as  he  guards  his  own  property." 

"But  he  doesn't  guard  his  own  property  very 
well,"  I  said.  "Federal  troops  recently  captured 
his  archives  covering  the  last  three  years,  and  when 
I  left  President  Carranza  at  Queretaro  a  week  ago, 
he  was  going  over  these  records  with  much  enjoy- 
ment." 

Getting  a  man's  office  records,  and  getting  the 
man  himself  were  two  very  different  things,  the  oil 
[2141 


THE  OIL  MEN'S  VERSION 


man  thought,  and  all  efforts  to  capture  Pelaez 
would  fail. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  a  representative 
gathering  of  oil  men,  called  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
senting their  side  of  the  petroleum  controversy.  It 
was  interrupted  by  a  late  comer  with  the  news  that 
bandits  had  just  captured  a  payroll  of  the  Huesteca 
Oil  Company,  after  shooting  two  Americans  and 
one  Mexican  who  were  guarding  it,  and  as  this  little 
episode  took  place  in  the  neutral  zone,  beyond  the 
lines  held  by  the  Federal  Government,  and  near 
the  zone  commanded  by  Pelaez,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  "the  King  of  the  Oil  Fields"  must  be  tottering 
on  his  throne. 

Enough  of  anarchy  on  the  land  side. 

To  the  periodista  from  the  States  who  had  seen 
peaceful  and  prosperous  Mexico  under  the  rule  of 
President  Carranza,  it  seemed  reasonably  clear  that 
safety  lay  in  the  deep  blue  sea,  personified  in 
the  river  by  one  Mexican  and  two  American  war 
vessels. 

It  was  agreed  at  the  conference  with  the  oil  men 
that  no  names  should  be  used.  They  said  with  the 
utmost  frankness  that  they  had  nothing  to  hope  for 
either  from  Washington  or  Mexico  City,  and  that 
whatever  they  might  say  would  be  used  against 
them. 

With  no  desire  to  increase  the  difficulties  of  a 
[215] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

position  already  untenable,  I  agreed  to  suppress 
names,  but  pointed  out  to  them  that  what  I  might 
say  on  their  behalf  would  carry  much  less  weight 
than  if  they  said  it  themselves,  taking  full  responsi- 
bility, and  that  a  round  robin  could  be  drawn  up 
which  would  divide  this  responsibility  equally 
among  all  present. 

"There  is  no  way  in  which  we  can  present  our 
side  except  this,"  the  spokesman  replied.  "So 
long  as  the  gentleman  now  in  Paris  remains  at  the 
head  of  the  American  Government  it  is  useless  for 
an  American  citizen  in  a  foreign  land  to  demand 
either  redress  or  protection,  and  anything  we  say 
will  be  construed  against  us.  We  know  this.  We 
have  tried  to  get  a  hearing  in  Washington,  but  with- 
out success. 

"We  are  American  citizens  engaged  in  a  patriotic 
duty.  We  have  come  into  Mexico  to  develop  the 
country,  and  we  are  doing  it.  Every  dollar  we 
have  made  is  the  result  of  hard  labour  intelligently 
applied.  We  have  risked  our  lives  as  well  as  our 
fortunes  down  here,  and  while  we  have  built  up  a 
great  industry,  and  have  made  a  city,  the  expenses 
of  operating  are  so  great  that  despite  the  vast 
amount  of  oil  shipped  we  would  all  be  ruined  to- 
morrow if  our  plants  shut  down,  as  the  investments 
exceed  the  profits  to  date." 

"Is  there  any  truth  in  the  rumour  that  the  Tampico 
oil  field  is  beginning  to  show  signs  of  exhaustion?" 
[216] 


THE  OIL  MEN'S  VERSION 


"There  are  some  symptoms  of  a  decrease  in  the 
flow,  and  we  have  had  experts  at  work  for  some 
time  in  the  expectation  that  the  supply  can  be  nursed 
along  for  years  to  come.  The  Government,  too,  has 
been  making  a  study  of  the  situation,  but  while  we 
are  uncertain  as  to  the  future,  we  are  still  looking 
forward  to  new  developments  if  the  Mexican  Con- 
gress legalizes  our  ownership  of  property  we  have 
already  bought  and  paid  for." 

"Mexican  officials  say  that  the  petroleum  law 
presented  at  the  last  Congress  by  President  Car- 
ranza  will  be  re-introduced,  and  that  the  confis- 
catory  features  of  the  new  constitution  will  be  elimi- 
nated, so  that  on  all  property  purchased  prior  to  the 
date  on  which  the  new  constitution  became  effective 
your  titles  will  be  absolute.  This  is  to  be  effected 
by  means  of  an  amendment  to  which  Mr.  Carranza 
will  consent.  There  will  also  be  an  amendment 
providing  for  additional  protection  to  owners  of  the 
surface  soil,  but  the  Government  will  not  recede 
from  its  position  that  all  future  oil  fields  discovered 
shall  be  the  property  of  the  republic.  Is  there  any 
reason  why  you  cannot  operate  under  the  new  law 
in  extending  your  production?" 

"We  will  not  do  any  new  business  under  such  a 
law,"  said  the  spokesman,  who  represents  one  of  the 
larger  American  oil  corporations. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  you  are  going  too  far  there," 
interrupted  a  man  who  is  among  the  most  important 
[217] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

of  the  individual  owners.  "I  have  no  objection 
to  doing  business  under  the  new  constitution,  pro- 
vided the  royalties  fixed  are  such  that  I  can  make 
a  profit.  In  fact  I  have  no  objection  to  the  new 
law  in  its  application  to  all  future  oil  transactions, 
although  I  agree  that  it  would  be  a  crime  to  take 
our  properties  from  us  after  we  have  paid  for  the 
land  and  developed  it  at  our  own  expense." 

"It  is  possible,"  the  spokesman  resumed,  "that 
some  of  you  may  be  able  to  operate  under  the  new 
law,  but  to  make  the  attempt  would,  from  our  point 
of  view,  mean  placing  full  reliance  upon  the 
promises  of  the  Carranza  people,  and  what  we  want 
from  them  is  not  promises  but  performances.  Our 
experience  thus  far  with  the  Government  in  Mexico 
City  is  quite  as  unsatisfactory  as  our  experience 
with  Washington,  and  we  feel  that  we  have  nothing 
definite  from  either  source  upon  which  to  base  our 


course." 


"Does  it  not  seem  possible  to  you  that  the  Mexi- 
can Government  resents  the  support  the  oil  interests 
are  giving  to  Pelaez?  Would  it  not  be  easier  to 
come  to  terms  with  Mr.  Carranza,  and  to  obtain  the 
backing  of  the  United  States  in  support  of  your 
claims  if  you  rid  yourself  of  this  Old  Man  of  the 
Sea?" 

"Not  at  all.  Pelaez  is  our  friend.  We  would 
like  to  see  him  president  of  Mexico,  and  if  he  were, 
[218] 


THE  OIL  MEN'S  VERSION 


we  would  get  what  we  want.  We  have  never  had 
any  assistance  or  encouragement  from  Mr.  Car- 
ranza  any  more  than  we  have  from  Mr.  Wilson,  and 
it  would  be  folly  on  our  part  to  turn  down  Pelaez, 
even  if  we  could,  to  please  either  of  them.  Be- 
sides, the  State  Department  at  Washington  is  per- 
fectly aware  as  to  our  relations  with  Pelaez,  and 
has  approved  them  from  the  beginning.  Wash- 
ington knows  to  a  penny  what  we  have  paid  and  are 
paying  Pelaez,  and  has  never  interposed  any 
objection." 

(An  oil  man  testified  before  the  Fall  Committee 
that  Acting  Secretary  Polk  had  been  told  of  the 
arrangement  with  Pelaez,  but  the  State  Department 
has  no  record  of  this  arrangement  having  been  ap- 
proved.) 

"But  even  if  Washington  does  not  object  to  the 
payments  to  Pelaez,  what  is  there  to  prevent  you 
from  cutting  them  off  now,  when  he  is  obviously 
failing  to  give  you  the  protection  for  which  you 
are  paying?" 

"We  are  so  situated  that  this  man  could  destroy 
millions  in  property,  and  if  we  cut  off  his  revenues 
he  probably  would  do  so.  It  is  better  to  let  things 
continue  as  they  are  rather  than  to  court  destruc- 


tion." 


"But  do  not  these  heavy  payments  in  graft  eat 
into  your  profits?" 

[219] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

"We  have  no  profits.  We  are  able  to  keep  things 
going,  but  I  can't  say  how  much  longer  we  will  be 
able  to  do  so." 

"This  is  a  most  surprising  statement.  How  is 
it  that  if  the  American  oil  interests  in  Tampico 
have  failed  to  make  a  profit  the  Cowdray  people 
were  able  to  declare  a  25  per  cent,  dividend  for 
1918?" 

"I  don't  see  how  Cowdray  could  possibly  have 
earned  such  a  large  amount  last  year.  Of  course 
he  has  certain  advantages  in  shipping  and  market- 
ing his  products,  which  would  account  for  a  better 
business  showing  than  we  could  make,  but  25  per 
cent,  must  be  an  exaggerated  estimate." 

"Suppose  I  tell  you  that  the  figures  are  from  the 
company's  report  published  in  the  London 
Economist?" 

"That  authority  would  not  be  questioned  of 
course,  but  the  fact  remains  that  we  are  not  making 
any  money  here,  but  are  hanging  on  upon  the  theory 
that  after  the  lean  years  there  will  be  a  succession 
of  fat  years.  With  proper  encouragement  from 
people  at  home,  and  protection  from  the  Mexican 
Government,  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not 
eventually  reap  the  reward  of  our  labours  here. 
There  are  times,  however,  when  we  have  been  so 
heartily  disgusted  that  we  have  been  on  the  point 
of  giving  up,  and  pulling  out  of  the  country.  In 
fact,  I  so  advised  my  people  some  time  ago.  I  told 
[220] 


THE  OIL  MEN'S  VERSION 


them  it  would  be  better  to  pocket  their  losses  and 
close  up." 

"What  losses  would  there  be?" 

"The  scrapping  of  a  plant  that  has  cost  millions, 
and  the  impossibility  of  converting  anything  we 
have  here  into  real  money  upon  our  withdrawal." 

It  was  the  sense  of  the  conference  that  unless  the 
Mexican  Government  actually  carried  out  its 
promises  regarding  the  elimination  of  the  retro- 
active features  in  the  new  constitution  regarding 
the  ownership  of  oil  discoveries,  the  situation  as 
regards  Mexico  would  be  quite  hopeless,  that  an 
appeal  for  protection  or  assistance  from  Wash- 
ington would  be  equally  hopeless,  and  some  of 
the  grievances  of  the  oil  men  against  both  Govern- 
ments were  thus  outlined: 

Washington,  at  the  time  of  the  Vera  Cruz  epi- 
sode, instead  of  helping  the  Americans  in  Tampico, 
ordered  the  two  naval  vessels  then  in  port  to  sea, 
leaving  the  Americans  at  the  mercy  of  a  mob  which 
was  parading  up  and  down  the  streets,  shouting 
"Death  to  the  Gringoes!" 

Washington  apparently  held  to  the  view  that  Mr. 
Taft  had  given  ample  warning  to  Americans  to  get 
out  of  Mexico,  and  had  assisted  those  who  needed 
aid,  and  that  if  any  were  foolish  enough  to  remain 
behind  after  this  warning,  it  was  their  duty  to  take 
care  of  themselves. 

While  no  one  was  actually  injured  during  this 
[221] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

demonstration,  the  Americans  were  embroiled  with 
their  British  neighbours  because  their  British  neigh- 
bours declined  to  admit  them  to  a  stronghold  pre- 
pared for  their  own  nationals  in  times  of  emer- 
gency, and  this  feeling  of  ill-will  engendered  in 
times  of  stress  has  not  wholly  died  out. 

When  Tampico  business  men  sent  representatives 
to  Washington  to  lay  their  grievances  before  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  they  were  unable  to  see  him.  Re- 
ferred to  the  secretary  of  the  navy,  they  obtained 
no  satisfaction  from  Mr.  Daniels. 

"Tampico,"  said  Mr.  Daniels,  turning  to  the  map. 
"Ah  yes,  here  we  are,"  and  began  running  his 
finger  along  the  coast  midway  between  Vera  Cruz 
and  Progresso. 

"No,  Mr.  Daniels,  to  the  north  of  Vera  Cruz," 
one  of  the  committee  said. 

"To  be  sure,"  replied  Mr.  Daniels,  turning  his 
attention  to  a  district  some  hundreds  of  miles 
further  north.  "Here  we  are,  right  on  the  coast." 

"No,  Mr.  Daniels,"  objected  another  Tampico 
man,  "not  on  the  coast,  but  seven  miles  up  the 


river." 


No  doubt  Mr.  Daniels  was  jesting,  for  one  does 
not  run  a  country  daily  for  a  score  of  years  without 
acquiring  a  smattering  of  geography,  but  his  pre- 
tended ignorance  of  the  location  of  Tampico  hurt, 
for  these  men  had  assisted  in  putting  it  on  the  map, 
and  had  seen  it  grow  from  a  sleepy  little  Indian 
[222] 


THE  OIL  MEN'S  VERSION 


town  of  some  three  thousand  inhabitants  to  its 
present  proportions  which  are  those  of  a  prosperous 
semi-American  city  with  tall  buildings  and  a  popu- 
lation of  sixty  thousand,  and  ambitions  of  a  metro- 
politan character. 

Against  the  Mexican  Government  the  grievances 
are  equally  numerous  and  no  less  bitter. 

American  citizens  have  been  denied  the  right  to 
carry  arms  for  their  own  protection.  It  being 
pointed  out  to  some  of  them  that  on  making  applica- 
tion to  the  proper  authorities  a  permit  would  be 
issued  to  them,  both  arms  and  ammunition  were 
brought  in,  and  the  applications  made  and  granted. 
Several  days  later  both  arms  and  ammunitions  were 
seized  on  the  ground  of  military  necessity. 

Taxes  assessed  in  the  municipality  of  Tampico 
amount  to  some  $1,500,000  per  annum,  a  revenue 
wrongly  said  to  be  larger  than  that  of  Kansas  City, 
but  Americans  have  no  voice  in  the  administration 
of  the  revenues,  and  plans  for  civic  improvements 
are  promptly  sidetracked  if  presented. 

There  are  leaks  between  the  Carranza  officials  in 
Tampico  and  the  outlaws,  as  shown  by  otherwise 
uncanny  knowledge  of  the  routes  of  pay  rolls,  the 
amount  of  money  carried,  and  the  strength  of  the 
guard.  No  satisfaction  has  ever  been  had  upon 
complaints  arising  from  such  cases. 

Until  recently  it  has  been  impossible  to  obtain 
protection  from  the  Federal  Government  for  the 
[223] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

oil  camps,  so  that  the  heavy  payments  of  tribute  to 
Pelaez  have  been  a  matter  of  necessity. 

Finally,  it  is  charged,  but  without  proof,  that 
many  of  the  hold-ups  which  frequently  take  place 
between  Tampico,  which  is  controlled  by  the  offi- 
cials of  Mr.  Carranza,  and  the  oil  zone,  which  is 
guarded  by  "General"  Pelaez,  are  the  work  of 
Carrancistas. 

The  oil1  men  say  that  on  the  one  hand  they  have 
contributed  liberally  of  men  and  money  toward 
winning  the  war  for  America,  besides  furnishing  an 
essential  war  material.  They  insist  that  they  are 
reputable  American  business  men,  entitled  to  their 
rights  as  citizens,  even  though  resident  in  a  foreign 
country,  and  that  they  have  been  insulted  so  uni- 
formly when  attempting  to  confer  with  American 
officials  that  they  will  not  renew  their  efforts  at  an 
understanding  with  Washington  until  a  Republican 
Administration  takes  office.  On  the  other  hand  they 
are  tired  of  smooth  words  and  vague  promises  from 
Mexico  City,  and  only  definite  actions  will  convince 
them  of  the  reality  of  Mr.  Carranza's  good  inten- 
tions toward  them. 

It  was  suggested  to  them,  but  in  vain,  that  Wash- 
ington had  recognized  Mr.  Carranza's  Government 
as  the  one  and  only  legal  government  in  Mexico, 
and  that  the  United  States  would  be  hampered  in  its 
efforts  to  obtain  a  financial  settlement  by  persistence 
[224] 


THE  OIL  MEN'S  VERSION 


on  the  part  of  the  oil  men  in  aiding  a  rebel  with 
money  and  munitions. 

It  was  suggested  to  them,  but  in  vain,  that  Mr. 
Carranza's  Government  might  be  disposed  to  do 
more  for  them  if  their  status  was  cleared  from  this 
political  taint. 

They  are  standpatters,  these  oil  men,  and  are 
determined  to  hold  their  own,  no  matter  at  what 
cost.  Perhaps  the  owners  of  oil  securities  in  the 
United  States  may  not  agree  with  the  position  these 
gentlemen  have  taken,  but  they  are  at  present  in 
control  of  the  Tampico  oil  industry,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  run  things  to  suit  themselves — unless  some- 
thing happens. 

No  objection  to  the  accuracy  of  this  presentation 
of  the  oil  men's  version  has  been  made  by  them, 
six  months  after  its  publication  in  the  New  York 
Tribune.  Their  statement  regarding  financial  loss, 
however,  I  have  found  to  be  untrue,  and  I  there- 
fore doubt  many  of  their  other  statements. 


[225] 


CHAPTER  NINETEEN:     MEXICO'S 
FUTURE  BRIGHT 

The  future  of  Mexico,  and  indeed  of  every 
country,  can  be  nothing  but  the  outgrowth  of  the 
present.  At  present,  says  the  Mexican  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  "Mexico  is  convalescent."  If  Mexico 
is  on  the  way  to  recovery,  which  is  my  own  opinion, 
President  Carranza  was  not  far  wrong  in  express- 
ing the  hope  that  he  would  be  able  to  leave  a  com- 
pletely pacified  country  to  his  successor  in  office  in 
December,  1920.  In  this  event  I  forecast  a  bright 
future  for  our  neighbour.  Indeed,  I  venture  to 
suggest  the  possibility  that  in  ten  years  from  now 
the  people  of  Mexico  may  find  themselves  in  the  de- 
lectable position  as  regards  taxation  in  which  sub- 
jects of  the  Prince  of  Monaco  are  now  unique — tax 
free. 

It  is  not  altogether  beyond  possibility  that  the 
nationalization  of  petroleum  may  make  Mexico  the 
richest  nation  on  earth.  Let  us  for  the  moment 
waive  all  thought  of  the  Tampico  and  Tuxpan  oil 
fields,  which  are  almost  wholly  controlled  by 
British  and  American  capital,  but  exported  in  the 
year  1918,  58,560,553  barrels  of  petroleum — to- 
gether with  the  political  and  financial  questions  in- 
[226] 


MEXICO'S  FUTURE  BRIGHT 


volved.  Waiving  this,  it  is  beyond  the  range  of 
controversy  that  Article  27  of  the  new  constitution 
of  1917  stands  good  in  international  law,  once  its 
retroactive  features,  which  are  contradicted  by  an- 
other section  of  the  same  fundamental  law,  are 
eliminated.  That  means  that  all  future  oil 
discoveries  will  be  the  property  of  the  Mexican 
nation,  and  can  be  developed  on  a  royalty  system  by 
which  the  operators  will  be  allowed  sufficient  profits 
to  encourage  the  investment  of  brains  and  money, 
but  without  giving  the  lion's  share  to  foreigners — 
a  lion's  share  which  enabled  Lord  Cowdray's  com- 
pany to  pay  a  25  per  cent,  dividend  last  year,  and 
the  Royal  Dutch  Shell  to  pay  dividends  for  the 
last  two  years  of  38  and  48  per  cent. 

Ever  since  I  got  into  the  heart  of  Mexico  I  have 
had  a  strong  conviction  that  the  oil  regions  of  the  re- 
public still  undeveloped  but  known  to  the  higher 
officials  of  the  government,  and  perhaps  to  certain 
Americans  also,  vastly  exceed  the  properties 
now  exploited,  affording,  in  view  of  the  constantly 
increasing  demand  for  mineral  oil,  the  certainty 
of  enormous  wealth.  I  knew  that  Mexican,  French, 
British,  and  American  oil  men  had  been  exploring 
every  part  of  the  United  States  of  Mexico  for 
several  years.  I  knew  that  these  investigations  had 
covered  the  Yucatan  peninsula,  Lower  California, 
the  States  of  the  Central  plateau,  and  those  of  the 
Pacific  coast.  The  Mexican  officials  had  been  per- 
[227] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

fectly  frank  with  me  in  discussing  financial  affairs, 
giving  me  the  very  latest  figures  regarding  the  na- 
tional debt,  the  foreign  loans,  the  revenues,  and  the 
railways.  No  information  was  forthcoming  on 
petroleum.  I  never  met  a  more  courteous  or  com- 
panionable lot  of  people  than  these  same  Mexican 
officials,  and  I  had  found  them  ready  at  all  times 
to  furnish  information  if  sought — except  when 
it  came  to  petroleum.  My  "hunch"  is  that  not 
more  than  a  tenth  of  Mexico's  known  petroleum  re- 
sources are  being  operated  as  I  write.  I  believe 
that  if  Mexico  enjoys  for  ten  years  to  come  as  peace- 
ful a  rule  as  that  which  now  exists,  her  exports  will 
be  ten  times  as  great  as  in  1918,  and  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  increase  will  be  of  oil  owned  by  the 
nation.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  population  of 
Mexico  is  now  under  15,000,000,  and  then  take 
your  paper  and  pencil  and  figure  to  yourself  the  ex- 
traordinary magnitude  of  the  per  capita  wealth 
which  will  flow  into  Mexico  from  this  source  alone. 
Cuba's  profits  in  sugar  will  seem  as  a  drop  in  the 
bucket. 

Even  if  my  "hunch"  is  wrong,  however,  peace- 
ful development  for  ten  years  certainly  means  a 
bright  future  for  Mexico.  Mexico  is  naturally,  as 
the  Englishman  says  of  his  modern  flat,  "self-con- 
tained." Her  tropical  coasts  produce  an  abun- 
dance of  bananas,  the  cheapest  food  in  the  world; 
[228] 


MEXICO'S  FUTURE  BRIGHT 


of  cocoanuts,  which  yield  the  cheapest  and  most 
wholesome  vegetable  oil  for  food,  as  well  as  sugar, 
and  the  tropical  fruits,  which  are  valuable  for  their 
delicacy  and  nutritive  qualities.  The  temperate 
zone  includes  vast  areas  suitable  to  the  cultivation  of 
cereals  in  which,  to  take  a  single  instance,  the  yield 
of  corn  is  immense,  and  there  are  two  crops  a  year. 
The  pasturage  for  cattle  and  sheep  surpasses  that 
of  any  other  country  in  America.  The  mines  aban- 
doned years  ago  by  Spanish  owners  are  yielding 
handsome  returns  under  modern  methods,  and  a 
single  mine  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  reported  in 
the  latest  book  on  that  country  as  having  been  shut 
down  since  the  retirement  of  President  Diaz,  is 
actually  shipping  7,000,000  pesos  a  month  in 
bullion. 

Mexico  needs  above  all  things  peace,  schools,  and 
irrigation.  No  one  knows  it  better  than  the  Mexi- 
cans themselves.  Mexico,  which  had  a  population 
of  30,000,000  when  Cortez  landed,  and  can  support 
three  times  that  population  today,  is,  notwithstand- 
ing the  long  domination  by  Spain,  the  most  Ameri- 
can of  all  American  countries,  for  the  aborigines 
constitute  85  per  cent,  of  the  population,  and  this 
Indian  element,  which  has  dwindled  under  the  op- 
pression of  centuries,  has  produced  its  fair  share 
of  the  men  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
public  life  of  their  country.  There  are  possibili- 
[229] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

ties  in  the  peon  which  neither  Diaz  nor  any  of  his 
predecessors  was  willing  to  develop.  What  they 
wanted  was  peon  labour. 

What  the  Mexicans  themselves  want,  and  what  I 
hope  they  may  have,  is  a  nation  in  which  the  stand- 
ard of  illiteracy  shall  be  reduced  from  the  present 
80  per  cent,  to  a  point  at  which  the  only  adults  who 
cannot  at  least  read  and  write  will  be  the  con- 
genitally  defective.  That  condition  cannot  be 
brought  about  in  less  than  a  generation,  but  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  I  saw  the  beginning  of  the  system 
of  universal  education,  the  necessity  for  which  is 
now  admitted  by  all  parties  and  all  classes  of  Mexi- 
can society. 

But  if  the  germ  of  the  future  is  in  the  present, 
it  is  worth  while  to  make  it  clear  that  conditions  in 
Mexico  at  this  time  are  by  no  means  as  bad  as  they 
have  been  painted.  One  of  the  most  astonishing 
bits  of  unintentional  misinformation  was  furnished 
by  a  map  of  Mexico  in  a  New  York  daily  of  June 
22,  which  purported  to  prove  that  rebel  forces  rule 
one-half  of  Mexico.  This  map  showed  by  various 
shadings  the  territory  controlled  by  the  rebel 
leaders.  Were  it  correct,  it  would  have  been 
physically  impossible  for  me  and  my  good  wife 
either  to  have  entered  Mexico  last  February,  or  to 
have  left  that  country  two  months  later,  although 
our  passports,  with  all  due  vises,  would  suffice  to 
convince  any  court  of  justice  that  we  are  right  in 
[230] 


MEXICO'S  FUTURE  BRIGHT 


believing  that  we  were  in  Mexico.  This  map  shows 
that  between  Vera  Cruz  and  Mexico  City  is  a  large 
tract  of  territory  controlled  by  Felix  Diaz.  Yet 
we  passed  through,  accompained  by  a  party  of 
Mexicans  who  would  have  furnished  a  big  haul  to 
any  bandit. 

The  map  shows  that  on  June  22  all  of  the  State 
of  Puebla  and  part  of  Guerrero  were  ruled  by 
Emiliano  Zapata,  despite  the  fact  that  we  had 
visited  the  City  of  Puebla,  had  dined  with  the 
governor  in  his  palace,  and  returned  to  Mexico  City 
without  seeing  any  trace  of  disorder,  and  the  ad- 
ditional fact  that  Zapata  and  the  handful  of  fol- 
lowers remaining  to  him  were  killed  by  soldiers 
last  April.  The  map  shows  that  Felix  Diaz  and 
"General"  Pelaez  together  rule  practically  all  of  the 
State  of  Tamaulipas  and  the  northern  part  of  Vera 
Cruz.  Therefore  we  could  not  possibly  have 
travelled  from  San  Luis  Potosi  to  Tampico  to  get 
a  steamer  for  New  York,  and  instead  of  finding  the 
oil  men  in  Tampico  paying  their  taxes  to  the  Car- 
ranza  Government,  we  should  have  had  to  interview 
Diaz  or  Pelaez.  Equally  absurd,  of  course,  was 
the  assignment  of  all  of  Chihuahua,  and  parts  of 
Durango,  Sonora  and  Coahuila  to  Villa.  This  ter- 
ritory included  the  cities  of  Jaurez,  Chihuahua,  Par- 
ral,  San  Pedro,  and  Torreon,  all  of  which,  unless 
the  American  authorities  in  Mexico  are  mightily 
deceived,  are  loyal  to  the  Carranza  Government. 
[231] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

Ambassador  Fletcher  has  testified  that  Villa  con- 
trols merely  the  land  on  which  he  is  camping  for  the 
time  being.  Pelaez,  who  was  retreating  before  the 
Carranza  soldiers  in  Tamaulipas  when  I  left 
Mexico,  was  estimated  to  have  in  all  less  than  200 
men.  These  figures  were  given  me  by  a  Belgian 
oil  inspector  who  had  spent  eighteen  months  in  the 
oil  jungle,  and  were  not  disputed  by  the  oil  men 
residing  in  Tampico.  It  is  doubtful  if  Diaz  has 
fifty  followers,  and  it  is  certain  that  he  was  unable 
to  prevent  the  destruction  of  the  landing  party  led 
to  his  support  last  winter  by  General  Blanquet, 
whose  death  occurred  shortly  after  that  of  Zapata. 
Conditions  in  Mexico  are  bad  enough  without  any 
misrepresentation.  The  loss  in  property  during 
ten  years  of  civil  strife  has  run  into  the  hundreds  of 
millions.  A  minor  official  who  had  taken  part  in 
some  of  the  severest  fights  of  the  whole  period  told 
me  that  he  believed  the  total  sacrifice  of  human 
life  had  been  not  less  than  1,000,000.  Zapata  left 
the  rich  State  of  Morelos,  the  centre  of  the  Mexican 
sugar  industry,  in  ruins,  so  that  not  a  mill  was 
standing,  and  for  a  time  it  was  necessary  for  Mexico 
to  import  sugar.  Villa  has  made  it  impossible  to 
work  some  of  the  richest  mines  in  northern  Mexico 
even  now.  Pelaez  still  keeps  from  their  homes 
scores  of  Americans  who  settled  in  the  interior  of 
Tamaulipas,  attracted  by  the  wonderfully  fertile 
soil  and  the  climate.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  great 
[232] 


MEXICO'S  FUTURE  BRIGHT 


Mexican  country  estates,  taking  them  by  and  large, 
would  show  today  more  than  half  the  wealth  in 
horses,  cattle,  sheep,  or  farm  implements,  that  they 
possessed  ten  years  ago.  The  railways  of  Mexico 
are  badly  in  need  of  all  kinds  of  rolling  stock  and 
equipment,  and  should  be  augmented  by  new  lines 
to  tap  undeveloped  mineral  and  agricultural  lands. 
The  international  claims  for  damages  from  the 
United  States  of  Mexico  because  of  the  destruction 
of  foreign-owned  property  during  the  revolution 
now  number  9,073,  and  may  be  expected  to  total 
$400,000,000.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  claims 
of  a  similar  nature  have  been  settled  on  a  basis  of 
1  per  cent.  There  is  still  insufficient  revenue  to  pay 
all  interest  and  principal  of  government  bonds. 
These  are  the  worst  features  of  the  situation  as  it  ap- 
pears today. 

To  offset  them  the  first  asset  is  the  will  to  live  in 
peace  and  happiness,  which,  I  believe,  now  ani- 
mates ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  Mexicans; 
the  fact  that  the  revenues  are  now  $180,000,000 
per  annum,  more  than  at  any  period  of  the  nation's 
history;  that  the  greatest  drain  is  the  army,  which 
is  much  smaller  now  than  in  years,  and  will  be  still 
further  reduced  as  the  bandits  are  subdued.  Add 
to  these  facts  increased  profits  from  the  railways, 
a  better  system  of  general  taxation,  a  present  pros- 
perity everywhere  evident  in  the  Central  States  of 
Mexico,  >and  an  abundant  supply  of  gold  and 
[233] 


THE  PLOT  AGAINST  MEXICO 

silver  money  which  is  above  par  in  exchange,  and 
there  are  ample  reasons  for  optimism  as  to  Mexico. 
Only  a  continuation  of  war  can  complete  the  ruin  of 
this  rich  country,  and  the  Mexican  people  know  it 

as  well  as  we  do. 

j 

OP.  VI,  AEVIA 


[234] 


APPENDIX  I 
PRESIDENT  CARRANZA'S  MESSAGE 

Delivered  to  the  National  Congress  on  September  1, 1919; 
Reported  by  La  Revista  Mexicana. 

On  Monday  afternoon,  September  1,  19l9,  the  regular 
session  of  the  Honourable  Congress  of  the  Union  met  at 
4.30  o'clock,  upon  which  occasion  President  Carranza  ad- 
dressed that  body,  and  the  reports  of  the  various  Depart- 
ments were  read. 

Preceding  the  perusal  of  the  reports  mentioned,  the 
President  spoke  as  follows: 

Citizen  Deputies: 

Citizen  Senators: 

The  circumstances  recorded  in  the  progress  of  the 
nation  during  the  past  year  invest  the  communication 
which,  in  accordance  with  the  Supreme  Code,  the  Exec- 
utive renders  before  you  today,  with  a  special  interest, 
translated  into  the  most  favourable  facts  of  the  progress 
of  the  Republic  in  the  whole  of  its  affairs.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  country  is  so  remarkable  in  this  direc- 
tion and  so  free  in  its  vigour,  that  the  same  difficulties 
presented  in  the  different  classes  concur  to  demonstrate 
the  strength  with  which  Mexican  life  is  developing. 

A  comparison  of  the  actual  condition  of  things  with 

that  of  the  first  days  of  May,  1917,  when  the  precon- 

stitutional  period  had  just  expired,  or  an  analysis  of  the 

evolutionary  process  of  the  different  activities  of  the 

[235] 


APPENDIX  I 


official  and  private  machinery  of  the  present  moment  as 
compared  with  the  former  period,  demonstrates  positively 
that  there  has  been  non-interrupted  progress.  The  same 
state  of  affairs  in  which  the  Republic  stands  now,  in  the 
conclusion  of  the  most  serious  of  our  revolutions,  has 
not  succeeded  in  obstructing  the  social,  political  and 
juridical  development,  equivalent  to  the  pacific  task  of 
several  years.  The  problems  of  reorganization  and  the 
phenomenon  of  accommodation  need  the  results  of  ad- 
ministrative effort  in  the  brief  period  mentioned. 

Countless  have  been  the  hindrances  which  the  Exec- 
utive, in  conjunction  with  the  other  Powers,  has  had  to 
overcome,  but  the  general  results  without  doubt  are 
satisfactory  to  the  aspirations  of  the  Union. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS 

The  Republic  still  maintains  very  good  relations  with 
all  countries  and  has  interrupted  them  only  with  Great 
Britain  for  the  reasons  expressed  by  the  Executive  to 
the  Honourable  Congress  in  the  last  report. 

In  order  to  cultivate  and  promote  these  diplomatic 
relations,  the  Government  accredited  several  officials  to 
represent  Mexico  abroad.  Mr.  Alberto  J.  Pani  pre- 
sented his  credentials  in  France  as  Extraordinary  Envoy 
and  Plenipotentiary  Minister  of  Mexico  last  March,  and 
General  Eduardo  Hay  was  accredited  last  May  before  the 
Italian  Government  with  the  same  capacity;  Mr.  Amado 
Nervo  was  sent  as  Extraordinary  Envoy  and  Plenipo- 
tentiary Minister  before  the  Governments  of  Argentine 
and  Uruguay,  where  he  presented  his  credentials  in 
April  and  May  this  year,  respectively;  Colonel  Fernando 
Cuen  went  to  Chile  under  the  same  capacity  and  pre- 
[236] 


APPENDIX  I 


sented  his  credentials  there  last  April;  General  Aaron 
Saenz  was  appointed  to  go  to  Brazil  as  Plenipotentiary 
Envoy  also,  and  presented  his  credentials  last  March; 
Mr.  Alfonso  Siller  was  accredited  as  Minister  from 
Mexico  to  Peru,  and  assumed  his  post  last  April,  while 
Mr.  Jose  Almaraz  was  appointed  Minister  to  Nicaragua 
and  Costa  Rica;  finally,  last  May  General  Heriberto 
Jara  was  received  by  the  Cuban  Government  as  Extraor- 
dinary Envoy  and  Plenipotentiary  Minister  from  Mexico. 
We  have  also  diplomatic  missions  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  France,  Italy,  Spain,  Colombia,  Equador, 
Venezuela,  Salvador,  Honduras,  Japan,  China,  Belgium, 
Norway,  Sweden  and  Denmark. 

The  friendly  governments  for  their  part  have  also  their 
respective  missions  in  this  capital,  as  for  instance,  the 
United  States  of  America,  Germany,  Argentine,  Austria, 
Belgium,  Cuba,  Chile,  China,  Spain,  France,  Guatemala, 
Honduras,  Italy,  Japan,  Nicaragua,  Norway,  Sweden  and 
Uruguay.  On  account  of  the  heads  of  some  of  the 
foreign  legations  having  been  vacant,  their  Excellencies 
Alberto  Yoacham  Varas  and  Ezequiel  Garcia  Ensenat 
were  accredited  as  Extraordinary  Envoys  and  Plenipo- 
tentiary Ministers  from  Chile  and  Cuba  respectively,  and 
Honourable  Cong  Tsieng-Hwong  as  Charge  d' Affaires  ad 
interim  from  China  since  last  November. 

Our  Relations  With  the  United  States 

On  the  22d  of  December,  1918,  the  United  States 
Embassy  addressed  the  Foreign  Office  two  notes  regarding 
the  oil  question.  The  first  one  was  a  reply  to  Mexico's 
note  basing  our  right  to  legislate  on  oil  matters  as  has 
been  done. 

[237] 


APPENDIX  I 


Said  answer  expresses  that  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment believes  that  Mexico  is  moved  by  the  best  intentions 
to  settle  the  oil  controversy  and  that  this  shall  redound 
to  the  benefit  of  the  good  relations  existing  between  both 
countries.  The  United  States  Government  adds  that 
Mexico's  good  disposition  is  expected  to  purport  a  re- 
consideration of  all  decrees  and  laws  issued  in  regard 
to  oil,  and  avails  the  opportunity  to  state  that  the  United 
States  have  never  pledged  in  any  way  through  declara- 
tions of  any  of  their  rulers,  particularly  of  their  actual 
President,  not  to  resort  to  diplomatic  intervention  in  be- 
half of  their  citizens  abroad  whenever  such  intervention 
be  justified.  The  same  note  rejects  the  argument  pre- 
sented by  Mexico  to  the  effect  that  if  foreigners  are  given 
the  right  to  make  diplomatic  claims  in  similar  cases  they 
would  often  be  placed  under  conditions  more  favourable 
than  those  enjoyed  by  the  natives;  it  is  argued  therein 
that  the  citizens  of  a  country  have,  besides  the  ordinary 
judicial  resources,  the  last  one  of  changing  by  means  of 
their  vote  the  institutions  or  remove  the  authorities 
which  may  be  detrimental  to  their  rights;  and  that  this 
prerogative  is  not  enjoyed  by  foreigners,  and,  therefore, 
to  forbid  them  to  resort  to  the  protection  of  their  govern- 
ments in  case  of  wrong,  would  be  to  place  them  in  a 
state  of  disadvantageous  inequality  regarding  natives. 

This  note  ends  by  saying  that  if  the  subsequent  acts  of 
the  Mexican  Government  and  its  administrative  or  judi- 
cial authorities  do  not  meet  the  expectations  of  the 
United  States  Government,  it  reserves  the  consideration 
of  paying  more  attention  to  its  citizens  concerning  this 
important  matter;  that  the  President  has  traced  a  well 
defined  line  between  the  policy  of  armed  intervention  and 
[238] 


APPENDIX  I 


the  policy  of  diplomatic  intervention;  on  several  oc- 
casions he  has  indeed  expressed  that  he  would  not  back 
up  armed  intervention  in  another  country  for  the  sake  of 
selfish  interests,  and  the  complete  exposition  of  the 
subject  as  made  by  the  Mexican  Secretary  of  Foreign 
Affairs  evidently  describes  such  case;  but  the  President 
has  never  said  that  he  would  resign  the  right  of  diplo- 
matically intervening  in  behalf  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
which  undoubtedly  is  a  friendly  method  to  protect  legiti- 
mate national  interests  in  order  to  prevent  injustices. 
On  the  contrary — the  note  goes  on — nowhere,  as  in  the 
following  paragraph  quoted  from  one  of  his  speeches 
made  Jan.  29,  1916,  has  the  President  stated  more  clearly 
his  favour  to  diplomatic  intervention: 

"Not  only  have  the  United  States  the  right  to  protect 
life  within  their  own  boundaries,  but  they  also  have  the 
right  to  demand  equal  and  just  treatment  for  their 
citizens  wherever  they  may  go. 

"The  United  States  Government  asks  for  nothing  else 
but  'an  equal  and  fair  treatment'  for  its  citizens,  and 
consequently  entertains  the  sincere  hope  that  the  Mexican 
Courts  called  to  decide  on  the  legal  questions  implied  in 
the  oil  regulations,  shall  protect  in  the  lawsuits  that 
have  been  brought  or  which  may  later  on  be  started,  the 
lawfully  acquired  rights  of  the  United  States  citizens. 
Thus  might  the  controversy  be  satisfactorily  settled; 
however,  if  this  hope  should  be  disappointed,  the  United 
States  Government  must  reserve  to  itself  the  right  to 
consider  the  questions  of  interest  more  in  favour  of  its 
citizens  affected  by  this  grave  and  important  matter." 

The  second  note  of  the  same  date  expresses  that  in 
case  that  the  Congress  should  approve  the  laws  and  de- 
[239] 


APPENDIX  I 


crees  on  oil,  the  United  States  Government  wishes  to  re- 
new the  protests  previously  made. 

The  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  answered  acknowl- 
edging receipt. 

The  American  Embassy  protested  against  the  circular 
orders  given  by  the  Financial  Department  relating  to  the 
collection  of  royalties  from  the  oil  companies.  The 
Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  made  the  corresponding 
objections. 

The  United  States  citizens  interested  in  oil  properties 
in  Mexico  for  their  part  initiated  and  maintain  with  a 
perfect  organization,  extraordinary  strength  and  remark- 
able persistence  a  press  campaign  in  the  United  States 
devised  to  impress  the  public  mind  of  the  country  and 
the  general  mass  as  well  as  the  members  of  both  Houses 
by  all  possible  means  of  the  necessity  to  compel  their 
Government  to  intervene  in  Mexico  in  order  that  our  laws 
be  drafted  in  perfect  accordance  with  their  personal  in- 
terests, a  finality  which,  of  course,  they  do  not  frankly 
invoke,  for  they  demand  intervention  on  account  of  an 
alleged  lack  of  guaranties  prevailing  in  our  country,  an 
argument  which  easily  impresses  the  public  mind. 

Unfortunately  we  receive  frequent  suggestions,  more 
or  less  vehement,  from  the  United  States  Government 
whenever  we  wish  to  adopt  any  changes  which  might 
purport  some  damage  for  the  interests  of  the  citizens  of 
that  country,  such  suggestions  tending  to  restrain  our 
liberty  of  legislation  and  to  impair  our  right  to  develop 
ourselves  according  to  our  own  judgment. 

The  most  important  case  of  this  nature  was  that  of 
the  Richardson  Construction  Company,  when  diplomatic 
[2401 


APPENDIX  I 


endeavours  were  made  to  have  us  revoke  the  decision  to 
raise  the  taxes  on  a  great  land-holding,  despite  the  fact 
that  one  of  the  causes  of  the  revolution  of  1910  was  the 
lack  of  proportion  between  the  value  of  real  estate  and 
the  taxes  paid  thereon,  and  notwithstanding  that  one  of 
the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Constitutionalist 
Revolution  was  that  of  progressive  taxation  of  landed 
estates,  so  as  to  compel  the  landholders  to  divide  their 
large  properties. 

Still  other  cases  of  representations  of  that  sort  are 
recorded,  as  for  instance  in  the  following  cases:  On 
account  of  the  raising  of  taxes  or  creating  restrictions  to 
the  exportation  of  hides  and  cattle;  on  account  of  taxes 
imposed  on  production  of  metals  and  on  mining  claims; 
on  account  of  the  value  of  henequen  having  gone  up,  and 
recently,  because  the  export  duties  on  cotton  produced 
in  Lower  California  were  increased. 

In  all  these  occasions  the  argument  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  State,  whenever  official  notes  have 
been  exchanged,  or  that  of  the  press  when  the  action 
assumed  a  different  character,  has  been  that  such  taxes 
or  duties  are  "confiscatory,"  this  word  having  received 
such  an  amplitude  that  just  by  invoking  it  any  limitation 
to  our  right  to  legislate  seems  justified. 

The  Mexican  Government  hopes  that  the  Government 
of  the  Northern  Republic  shall  respect  the  sovereignty 
and  independence  of  Mexico,  for  to  violate  them  under 
the  excuse  of  lack  of  guaranties  for  its  citizens  or  our 
legislation  being  detrimental  to  their  interests  would  be 
an  unpardonable  transgression  of  the  principles  of  In- 
ternational Law  and  morality,  and  would  demonstrate 
[241] 


APPENDIX  I 


that  the  greatest  misfortune  that  may  ever  fall  on  a 
people  is  to  be  weak,  and  not  able  to  protect  itself  by 
force  against  stronger  nations. 

On  account  of  our  geographical  situation  in  regard  to 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  close  commercial 
ties  binding  us,  several  incidents  of  different  kinds  have 
arisen  in  the  course  of  our  international  relations. 

Last  year  a  group  of  United  States  soldiers  came 
across  the  boundary  line  into  our  territory  to  a  town 
called  El  Mulato  and  a  shooting  ensued  where  an  Ameri- 
can citizen  was  killed  and  a  Mexican  fiscal  guard  was 
wounded.  Our  Embassy  made  the  due  representation 
and  the  United  States  Government  answered  that  its 
soldiers  had  been  indeed  responsible  for  the  incident,  and 
that  having  been  tried  by  a  courtmartial  two  of  them  had 
been  sentenced  to  one  year  imprisonment,  two  others  to 
three  years  and  one  to  five  years. 

Last  year  also  a  group  of  United  States  soldiers  shot 
at  a  handful  of  Mexican  farmers  who  were  engaged  in 
their  work  in  our  territory  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Villa  Acuiia,  Coah.,  and  the  Mexican  citizen  Angel  Ran- 
gel  was  killed.  Our  Embassy  presented  the  correspond- 
ing claim  and  the  State  Department  informed  that  three 
United  States  soldiers  had  fired  at  the  Mexicans,  and 
they  would  be  tried  by  a  courtmartial.  We  have  no 
information  thus  far  regarding  the  sentence  given  to  the 
culprits. 

Last  April  our  Embassy  at  Washington  received  a 
petition  signed  by  many  Mexican  citizens  located  in  Bar- 
tlesville,  Oklahoma,  complaining  of  the  unjust  persecu- 
tion they  are  being  made  victims  of  in  that  region,  be- 
[242] 


APPENDIX  I 


cause  David  Cantu  was  beaten  on  the  16th  of  the  same 
month  by  five  or  six  American  citizens.  On  the  18th 
several  Mexicans  who  were  together  heard  a  public 
official  of  the  locality  express  the  opinion  that  Cantu 
should  be  whipped  and  hanged  to  a  post,  and  on  the 
22d  three  United  States  citizens  came  indeed  to  the  house 
where  Cantu  was  working  and  hanged  him  and  mis- 
treated him  without  any  justified  reason.  In  that  very 
place  a  Mexican  Jose  N.  who  worked  in  one  of  the  cafes 
of  the  town  was  shot  at  by  a  dentist.  Our  Embassy  in 
these  as  in  all  similar  cases  made  representations  and  we 
know  not  yet  whether  the  culprits  were  arrested  and 
prosecuted. 

Last  April  several  soldiers  of  the  United  States  Army 
invaded  our  territory  through  Vado  de  Piedra,  jurisdic- 
tion of  Ojinaga,  Chihuahua,  in  pursuit  of  bandits,  and 
they  entered  some  twelve  kilometers  into  Mexico.  Once 
again  through  the  same  place  they  came  into  our  territory 
and  attacked  the  marauders,  killing  five  of  them.  They 
accidentally  wounded  a  young  lady  and  a  man.  The 
corresponding  representations  were  made  through  our 
Embassy  to  the  Government  at  Washington,  but  we  do  not 
know  yet  if  any  action  was  taken  to  punish  the  soldiers 
responsible  for  the  deed. 

Last  May  the  Mexican  citizen  Jesus  Aguirre,  who 
worked  at  a  ship-yard  in  Rockport,  Tex.,  was  unjustly 
beaten  and  wounded  by  three  American  citizens,  the  local 
authorities  paying  no  attention  to  the  case.  Our  Consul 
in  Corpus  Christi  informed  that  there  existed  a  marked 
hostility  toward  our  fellow-citizens  in  Rockport,  for  they 
are  not  admitted  in  hotels,  boarding  houses,  lunch- 
[243] 


APPENDIX  I 


counters,  barber  shops  and  other  public  places,  while 
their  children  are  confined  in  a  special  school  under 
very  deficient  conditions. 

In  June  this  year  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  State 
of  California  excluded  the  Mexican  children  from  the 
official  schools  of  Santa  Paula,  El  Centro  and  other  Cali- 
fornia towns,  and  sent  them  to  the  schools  for  coloured 
people.  Our  Embassy  made  the  proper  representation 
and  the  United  States  Government  gave  explanation  of 
the  case. 

On  the  15th  of  last  June  Villa  and  his  followers  at- 
tacked Juarez  City,  garrisoned  by  General  Francisco 
Gonzalez,  and  having  been  defeated  in  three  successive 
attempts  to  capture  the  town,  Villa  tried  to  provoke  an 
international  conflict  by  firing  at  the  American  side, 
where  a  few  persons  were  wounded.  On  this  account 
the  troops  of  that  country  were  sent  across  the  boundary 
line  into  Mexico  to  disperse  the  "Villistas"  and  the  next 
day  re-crossed  the  line  into  the  United  States.  General 
Gonzalez  demanded  the  immediate  withdrawal  of  the 
foreign  forces,  acting  with  all  firmness  and  prudence, 

Our  Government  protested  against  the  invasion  and 
made  representations  before  the  officials  at  Washington, 
and  our  Embassy  was  told  in  answer  to  our  complaint 
that  the  sending  of  troops  was  intended  merely  as  a 
protective  measure  and  had  for  its  only  purpose  to 
repel  the  aggression  of  the  Villa  followers. 

Last  July  the  Mexican  military  paymaster  M.  L. 
Palma  was  assaulted  by  three  masked  individuals  in 
Marfa,  Texas,  and  deprived  of  the  money  he  carried 
with  him  to  pay  our  troops  at  Ojinaga,  Chihuahua.  The 
chairman  of  the  Grand  Jury  at  Presidio,  Texas,  informed 
[244] 


APPENDIX  I 


our  Consul  that  after  a  close  investigation  the  conclusion 
had  been  arrived  at  that  even  though  the  robbery  had 
indeed  taken  place  it  was  not  possible  yet  to  establish  any 
responsibility,  and  that  the  paymaster,  even  being  in- 
nocent, was  partly  to  blame  for  having  left  Marfa  so 
early  in  the  morning.  No  arrest  has  been  made  thus  far 
on  that  account. 

In  the  same  month  of  July  the  Mexican  citizen 
Anacleto  Salazar  was  killed  by  a  drunken  policeman  in 
Eureka,  Utah.  The  officer  was  set  free,  as  though  having 
acted  in  self-defence. 

Again  in  July  the  Mexican  citizen  Francisco  Resales 
was  beaten  and  robbed  during  the  race  riots  that  occurred 
in  Washington.  Our  Embassy  has  made  the  due  repre- 
sentations but  the  culprits  have  not  been  arrested. 

At  the  same  time  a  patrol  of  United  States  soldiers 
fired  at  several  Mexicans  in  Los  Adobes,  Texas,  taking 
them  for  deserters,  and  the  Mexican  citizen  Julio  Car- 
rasco  was  killed.  Our  Embassy  presented  the  cor- 
responding claim  and  the  United  States  Congress  was 
recommended  to  pass  a  resolution  for  the  payment  of 
an  indemnity  to  Carrasco's  relatives. 

Last  August  Jose  Blanco  and  Elizondo  Gonzalez, 
Mexican  citizens,  were  attacked  by  a  mob  in  the  city  of 
Chicago,  and  Blanco  wounded  in  self-defence  his  as- 
saulters, armed  with  a  knife.  On  this  account  he  was 
arrested.  Gonzalez  was  taken  to  a  hospital,  badly 
wounded.  The  assaulters  have  not  been  arrested.  Our 
Embassy  made  the  corresponding  representations  to  the 
Washington  authorities. 

In  the  same  month  three  United  States  soldiers  came 
across  the  boundary  line  down  south  as  far  as  San  Juan, 
[245] 


APPENDIX  I 


Chihuahua.  Our  troops  tried  to  capture  the  invaders, 
but  they  fired  at  our  men  and  fled  across  the  border, 
having  killed  a  Mexican  soldier.  The  Mexican  Embassy 
presented  the  due  claim,  but  thus  far  no  news  has  been 
received  of  any  action  taken  in  that  regard. 

Some  Mexicans  have  at  times  tried  to  go  across  the 
Rio  Grande  without  complying  with  the  laws  and  rules 
established  to  that  effect,  and  unhappy  accidents  have 
occurred  on  that  account,  for  the  United  States  guards 
fire  upon  these  people,  wounding  or  killing  them.  Such 
was  the  case  with  Feliciano  Hernandez  and  Reyes 
Payanes,  killed  that  way  in  the  jurisdiction  of  San 
Antonio,  Chihuahua.  Our  Government  has  made  the 
corresponding  representations. 

On  several  occasions  United  States  aviators  have  come 
across  the  border  and  operated  with  their  airplanes  over 
our  territory,  and  in  all  such  cases  our  Embassy,  by 
instructions  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  has 
presented  the  necessary  representations  and  protests,  de- 
spite which  the  raids  have  been  repeated. 

Last  August  an  airplane  of  the  United  States  Army 
flew  over  into  Mexican  territory  and  landed  near  Falomir 
Station,  on  the  line  from  Chihuahua  to  Presidio,  some 
112  kilometers  from  the  border.  Before  any  news  was 
heard  of  the  aviators'  whereabouts,  the  United  States 
authorities  requested  permission  to  have  another  of  their 
aviators  come  over  in  search  of  the  stray  officers,  which 
was  granted  on  the  llth,  and  the  Americans  never  made 
use  of  such  permission.  A  band  of  twenty  Villa  fol- 
lowers captured  the  aviators  and  approached  the  border 
with  them  demanding  a  ransom.  On  this  account 
United  States  forces  invaded  the  national  territory  in 
[246] 


APPENDIX  I 


pursuit  of  the  kidnappers  of  their  countrymen.  The 
Mexican  Government  demanded  of  the  Washington 
authorities  the  immediate  withdrawal  of  the  invading 
troops  and  protested  against  the  invasion,  which  con- 
stitutes a  serious  and  unwarranted  violation  of  our 
rights  that  wounded  very  deeply  the  patriotic  feelings  of 
the  Mexicans. 

Unfortunately  in  the  history  of  our  relations  with 
the  United  States  of  America  this  is  not  the  only  case  of 
similar  outrages.  Whenever  the  authorities  of  that 
country  have  deemed  necessary  or  convenient  to  invade 
our  territory,  they  have  done  so,  thus  violating  the  rights 
of  a  friendly  nation.  It  is  not  true  that  only  at  present, 
as  a  result  of  the  abnormal  circumstances  of  the  Re- 
public after  the  civil  war,  that  Government  has  been 
adopting  measures  of  that  sort.  Nor  is  it  true,  as  some 
people  dare  affirm,  that  the  attitude  of  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment during  the  world  war  should  be  the  cause  of 
these  frictions  and  of  the  complete  disregard  of  our 
rights  on  the  part  of  the  United  States;  it  shall  suffice 
to  recollect  a  few  cases  to  convince  ourselves  that  also 
in  other  stages  of  our  history  have  occurred  happenings 
like  these  we  now  deplore. 

Around  the  year  1869,  the  Kickapoo  Indians  were 
causing  serious  damages  to  Mexico  as  well  as  to  the 
United  States.  The  Washington  foreign  office  asked 
permission  of  the  Mexican  Government  to  send  troops 
across  the  border  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  Mexico  re- 
fused it,  but  gave  orders  to  the  Governors  of  the 
Northern  States  to  co-operate  with  the  United  States 
forces.  However,  on  the  21st  of  May,  1873,  Colonel 
MacKenzie  came  across  the  Rio  Grande,  above  Piedras 
[247] 


APPENDIX  1 


Negras,  with  five  hundred  cavalrymen  of  the  United 
States  Army,  provoking  the  corresponding  protests  of 
the  Mexican  Government. 

On  May  28th,  1874,  an  armed  force  of  the  United 
States  Army  invaded  our  territory  under  the  excuse  of 
pursuing  cattle  thieves. 

In  October,  1874,  the  Governor  of  Texas,  Mr.  Coke, 
ordered  the  State  Guard  to  pursue  into  Mexico  a  band  of 
savage  Indians. 

In  May,  1875,  a  group  of  armed  men  under  the  com- 
mand of  two  Sheriffs  of  Laredo  entered  the  Mexican 
town  of  Nuevo  Laredo,  pretending  to  capture  some 
marauders  who  had  fled  into  Mexico  across  the  border. 

On  November  19th,  1875,  United  States  forces  came 
across  the  frontier  in  pursuit  of  cattle  thieves.  Our 
Government  requested  through  its  Minister  at  Washington 
that  measures  be  adopted  to  prevent  such  transgressions 
and  that  further  invasions  of  our  territory  be  avoided. 

In  May,  1877,  a  certain  number  of  United  States 
soldiers,  under  Colonel  Shafter,  crossed  the  Rio  Grande 
and  came  to  Piedras  Negras,  intending  to  take  from  the 
public  jail  two  individuals  who  were  arrested  there. 

On  May  27,  1877,  the  Governor  of  Arizona  at  the 
head  of  military  forces  entered  Sonora  in  pursuit  of 
Apache  Indians. 

In  December,  1877,  Captain  Young  and  Lieutenant 
Bullis  entered  Mexican  territory  with  a  squad  of  cavalry- 
men for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  house  of  some 
moonshiners. 

In  December,  1877,  50  men  from  Apache  Pass  Fort 
crossed  the  boundary  line  into  a  point  called  Cajon  de 
Las  Alijas,  Sonora. 

[248] 


APPENDIX  I 


In  January,  1878,  when  Colonel  Shafter  was  called  to 
appear  before  the  United  States  Military  Committee  to 
inform  on  border  matters  and  expeditions  across  the 
boundary  after  cattle  thieves,  he  stated  that  in  May, 
1876,  he  had  come  into  Mexico  in  pursuit  of  Lipan  In- 
dians, the  result  of  his  expedition  being  the  capture  of 
19  of  them  and  the  destruction  of  their  settlement. 

On  June  22d  of  the  same  year  again  United  States 
forces  entered  Mexico  under  Colonels  MacKenzie  and 
Shafter,  forty  miles  above  Eagle  Pass,  under  the  excuse 
to  pursue  marauders.  The  forces  included  twenty  com- 
panies of  cavalry  and  various  divisions  of  artillery, 
provisions  for  fifteen  days,  a  heavy  train  and  several 
experts.  These  American  troops  committed  many  de- 
predations in  the  ranch  known  as  "El  Remolino." 

On  the  30th  of  June  that  same  year  our  territory  was 
once  more  invaded  by  United  States  troops  in  the  juris- 
diction of  Capitan  Leal  (Las  Vacas) ;  the  foreign  troops 
were  commanded  by  Captain  Kelly  and  remained  in  our 
territory  from  the  24th  to  the  27th  of  July.  They 
captured  and  took  with  them  the  Justice  of  Rio  Grande. 

In  July  of  that  same  year  Colonel  MacKenzie  again 
entered  Mexican  territory  through  a  point  close  to 
Piedras  Negras,  according  to  advices  from  the  Mayors 
of  Sabinas,  Zaragoza  and  Jimenez.  This  invasion  was 
effected  despite  the  continuous  diplomatic  opposition 
made  by  the  Mexican  Government. 

In  August  of  that  very  year  United  States  troops  from 
Forts  Duncan  and  Clark  came  across  the  boundary  line 
under  Colonel  Young,  and  entered  the  State  of  Coahuila 
in  pursuit  of  a  bandit  named  Arriola.  The  invading 
troops  included  two  regiments  of  cavalry. 
[249] 


APPENDIX  I 


At  the  beginning  of  April,  1879,  a  Land  of  United 
States  troops  from  Fort  Bayard  entered  Mexican  ter- 
ritory as  far  south  as  Ascension  and  intending  to  march 
on  to  Janos,  but  the  band  retreated  at  last,  giving  no 
excuse  for  the  invasion  but  that  they  wanted  to  know 
those  towns  of  the  State  for  Chihuahua.  There  were  25 
men  in  the  band. 

Still  in  the  same  year,  on  September  22d,  the  State  of 
Chihuahua  was  again  invaded.  Six  hundred  men  came 
in  and  pursued  some  Indians.  Our  Government  notified 
the  Washington  authorities  through  our  Minister  there, 
that  if  the  United  States  forces  did  not  leave  the  country 
at  once  our  troops  would  be  ordered  to  fight  them. 

From  the  5th  to  the  6th  of  October  that  very  year 
United  States  forces  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Taylor 
pursued  a  band  of  Indians  across  the  border. 

In  1880  our  Government  made  representations  on 
account  of  the  invasion  made  of  Chihuahua  through  the 
towns  of  Lucero  and  Cantaros.  The  invading  forces  re- 
turned to  their  territory,  claiming  to  have  come  across 
into  Mexico  because  they  lacked  water  and  were  looking 
for  it. 

In  February,  1881,  Lieutenant  Morey  entered  Mexican 
territory  with  a  platoon  of  soldiers  as  far  south  as  the 
Candelaria  range  of  mountains,  in  pursuit  of  some 
Indians. 

On  the  same  date  a  group  of  United  States  soldiers 
came  across  the  border  searching  for  a  soldier  who  de- 
serted in  Tucson. 

In  May  of  the  same  year  Lieutenant  Bullis  entered 
Mexico  with  his  soldiers  just  above  Las  Vacas,  pursuing 
some  rebellious  Lipan  Indians. 
[250] 


APPENDIX  I 


In  November  of  that  very  year  30  United  States 
soldiers  under  Lieutenant  Gardey  pursued  Indians  into 
Sonora. 

In  January,  1882,  28  men  of  the  4th  Regiment 
U.  S.  Cavalry  under  Lieutenant  MacDonald  came 
across  the  frontier  and  were  captured  by  the  com- 
mander of  the  garrison  at  Janos  for  violating  our 
territory. 

In  July  of  the  same  year  a  military  force  entered 
Mexico  near  Janos,  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
William  Ross.  General  Bernardo  Reyes  went  to  that 
point  with  his  troops  and  disarmed  all  the  foreign 
soldiers.  Forty  eight  rifles  and  five  Springfield  guns 
were  taken  from  them,  while  such  soldiers  were  com- 
pelled to  return  to  their  territory. 

On  the  14th  of  last  August  several  United  States 
soldiers  were  firing  at  the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  a 
settlement  called  "Las  Pompas,"  jurisdiction  of  Zara- 
goza,  State  of  Chihuahua,  about  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  The  people  of  that  community  had  to  seek 
refuge  outside  their  settlement. 

On  the  19th  of  the  same  month  three  American  soldiers 
entered  Mexico  at  a  border  town  called  Barrancos  de 
Guadalupe,  jurisdiction  of  Ojinaga,  Chihuahua,  and  fired 
without  any  reason  at  some  Mexican  peons  who  were 
farming  in  the  field,  wounding  Juan  Rey. 

On  the  23d  of  the  same  month  came  into  our  territory 
some  United  States  forces  through  the  town  of  Gua- 
dalupe, Chihuahua,  in  pursuit  of  some  bandits,  and  cut 
off  our  telegraphic  lines. 

On  the  same  date  other  troops  entered  the  town  of  San 
Ignacio,  in  the  State  of  Chihuahua,  and  took  by  sheer 
[251] 


APPENDIX  I 


force  with  them  to  American  territory  several  peaceful 
citizens  of  the  place. 

In  all  these  cases  the  Mexican  Government  has  made 
emphatic  representations,  as  well  as  in  any  other  in- 
stances in  which  our  territory  was  violated  or  our 
sovereignty  disregarded. 

A  great  part  of  the  Mexicans  who  on  account  of  the 
world  war  were  recruited  in  the  United  States,  have 
already  been  dismissed  although  no  news  is  available 
regarding  some  of  them.  Of  all  those  sent  to  the  front, 
it  is  positively  known  that  five  perished  in  combats  or 
in  shipwrecks,  two  in  service  accidents  and  one  through 
sickness. 

Our  Embassy  made  the  corresponding  representations 
in  all  these  cases. 

Since  the  day  when  the  United  States  recognized  our 
Government,  the  Washington  authorities  had  refused  to 
attend  the  request  of  extradition  Mexico  made  according 
to  the  Treaty.  In  May  this  year  the  State  Department 
informed  our  Embassy  at  Washington  that  it  was  now 
ready  to  transact  any  extradition  demands  that  the  Mexi- 
can Government  would  present,  and  this  offer  has  been 
kept. 

The  United  States  Government  for  its  part  has  also 
demanded  several  extradition  cases. 

The  American  Embassy  addressed  our  Foreign  Office 
several  notes  asking  for  the  capture  and  punishment 
of  people  guilty  for  crimes  committed  against  United 
States  citizens  in  our  territory,  and  has  constantly  re- 
quested that  fuller  guaranties  be  extended  them.  Some 
concrete  cases  may  be  mentioned.  At  the  end  of  Novem- 
ber last  year  the  United  States  Embassy  communicated 
[252] 


APPENDIX  I 


that  the  American  manager  of  the  Espada  mines  in  the 
State  of  Jalisco,  had  been  kidnapped.  The  bandits  were 
pursued  by  our  troops  and  the  American  regained  his 
liberty  in  the  first  days  of  January. 

In  February  the  same  Embassy  advised  that  Messrs. 
William  J.  Devitt,  Roy  A.  Mathewson  and  William  H. 
Holmes  had  been  kidnapped  at  Santa  Eulalia  by  a  band 
of  Villa  followers.  The  local  authorities  reported  that 
on  the  same  day  of  their  capture  those  Americans  were 
set  free. 

In  March  the  Embassy  informed  on  the  kidnapping  of 
Oscar  Wallace  at  the  ranch  of  Encinas,  State  of  Coahuila. 
Despite  the  activities  of  our  authorities  only  the  corpse 
of  the  kidnapped  could  be  found,  but  the  bandits  were 
taken  and  are  now  in  the  hands  of  justice. 

Last  June  the  Embassy  advised  that  the  United  States 
citizen  W.  Tevots  had  been  kidnapped  by  a  band  of 
Yaqui  Indians  in  La  Colorada,  Sonora.  As  soon  as  our 
authorities  learned  the  case,  forces  were  sent  to  pursue 
the  Indians  and  killed  three  of  them. 

Last  July  a  boat  of  the  United  States  Warship 
Cheyenne,  manned  by  a  few  marines,  steamed  up  the 
Tamesi  River  without  taking  the  necessary  precautions, 
and  was  held  up  outside  the  city  by  an  armed  group  of 
men,  who  stole  from  the  sailors  their  personal  belongings 
and  a  small  amount  of  money.  As  soon  as  our  author- 
ities got  acquainted  with  the  occurrence  they  tried  to 
investigate  the  case  and  the  culprits  have  already  been 
found,  arrested  and  prosecuted.  They  will  suffer  the 
corresponding  penalty. 

In  the  same  month  the  United  States  Embassy  com- 
plained that  the  American  citizen  Hiram  Hughes  had 
[253] 


APPENDIX  I 


been  arrested  by  the  police  at  Tampico  and  had  died  of 
a  wound  inflicted  on  him.  Investigations  were  made 
and  the  result  was  that  Hughes  had  wounded  himself, 
being  drunk,  according  to  his  own  deposition  signed  by 
his  own  hand. 

In  July  also  the  same  Embassy  presented  a  claim  for 
the  murder  of  Mr.  John  W.  Correll,  committed  in  the 
State  of  Tamaulipas.  As  soon  as  the  case  was  known 
our  authorities  sent  troops  after  the  bandits,  and  our 
soldiers  succeeded  in  killing  four  of  them  and  recovering 
things  they  had  stolen.  This  property  was  given  back 
to  their  owners  while  the  other  marauders  who  took  part 
in  the  murder  of  Mr.  Correll  were  captured  and  are  now 
being  prosecuted.  A  heavy  penalty  will  be  imposed 
upon  them. 

Still  in  July  the  Embassy  advised  that  Mr.  Lawrence 
L.  Shipley  was  kidnapped  in  the  State  of  Zacatecas. 
Our  authorities  gave  at  once  the  necessary  orders  to  see 
that  Shipley  was  protected,  and  this  American  regained 
his  liberty  five  days  later,  sane  and  safe. 

Also  in  July  the  Embassy  complained  that  a  young  man 
by  the  name  of  Phillip  R.  Thompson  had  been  kidnapped 
at  the  Miraflores  Ranch,  jurisdiction  of  Chalco,  State  of 
Mexico,  and  a  ransom  of  $1,500  was  demanded  by  the 
bandits. 

The  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  informed  the 
Embassy  that  our  Government,  wishing  to  do  for  its 
part  all  that  was  possible  to  prevent  international  dif- 
ficulties, offered  to  pay  the  amount  demanded  as  ran- 
som to  save  the  life  of  young  Thompson,  intending  of 
course  to  send  the  necessary  forces  in  pursuit  of  the 
marauders. 

[254] 


APPENDIX  I 


No  ransom  was  needed  to  get  Thompson  out  of 
trouble;  the  authorities  stated  that  they  had  opportunely 
warned  him  of  the  danger  he  ran  by  going  to  the  place 
where  he  lost  his  liberty. 

The  Embassy  communicated  that  in  the  same  month 
of  July  the  United  States  citizen  T.  J.  Castello  had  been 
robbed  of  a  considerable  number  of  cattle.  Our  forces 
started  an  immediate  pursuit  of  the  thieves  and  fought 
them,  taking  from  them  almost  all  the  stolen  cattle. 

In  May  last  year  the  United  States  citizen  Whiteford 
was  assassinated  by  bandits  in  the  State  of  Nayarit.  All 
the  bandits  who  took  part  in  that  crime  have  been  killed 
by  our  forces. 

On  the  14th  of  last  August  the  United  States  Embassy 
complained  about  the  offices  of  the  Pen.-Mex.  Fuel  Com- 
pany having  been  robbed  in  Tuxpan.  In  a  second  note 
the  Embassy  insisted  that  guaranties  should  be  extended 
and  had  a  few  unkindly  expressions  to  make.  On  the 
same  date  our  authorities  had  already  discovered  that 
the  thieves  were  four  employes  of  the  same  company, 
two  of  whom  were  shot,  part  of  the  money  stolen  being 
recovered  and  returned  to  its  owners. 

The  enunciation  of  all  these  cases  is  enough  to  prove 
that  all  charges  made  against  the  Mexican  Government 
not  to  be  willing  or  not  to  have  enough  power  to  punish 
bandits,  are  perfectly  unjust. 

On  the  22d  of  last  July  the  United  States  Embassy 
sent  a  note  regarding  the  murder  of  Peter  Catron,  de- 
manding the  punishment  of  the  murderers  and  that  ade- 
quate measures  were  taken  to  prevent  any  further  occur- 
rence of  assassination  of  United  States  citizens.  The 
Embassy  added  that  it  had  instructions  from  its  Govern- 
[255] 


APPENDIX  I 


ment  to  express  to  the  Mexican  Government  that  if  the 
lives  of  these  citizens  continued  under  the  same  state  of 
insecurity  through  the  unwillingness  or  the  inability  of 
the  same,  the  United  States  would  be  compelled  to 
adopt  a  radical  change  of  its  policy  toward  Mexico. 

The  Mexican  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  answered 
in  regard  to  the  particular  case  in  question,  that  the 
necessary  measures  were  taken  to  punish  Mr.  Catron's 
murderers,  and  in  regard  to  the  last  part  of  the  note  the 
reply  was  that  Mexico  has  always  shown  perfect  willing- 
ness to  protect  all  foreigners  residing  within  its  ter- 
ritory, proving  it  with  positive  facts;  that  the  protection 
afforded  by  Mexico  to  foreigners  could  not  be  absolute, 
for  it  does  not  exist  in  any  part  of  the  world;  that  our 
Government  has  always  pursued  all  transgressors  of  the 
law,  punishing  them  very  severely;  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  Mexico  has  been  earnestly  and  constantly  work- 
ing to  pacify  the  Republic  and  has  attained  frequent 
successes,  as  proven  by  the  death  of  Zapata,  Blanquet  and 
Ines  Davila,  as  well  as  of  many  others  of  lesser  im- 
portance; that  wishing  to  prevent  the  United  States 
citizens  from  being  the  victims  of  outrages  they  are  ex- 
posed to,  the  Government  suggests  the  convenience  of 
having  them  concentrate  in  populated  centres  where  full 
guaranties  shall  be  enjoyed,  and  have  them  also  ask  for 
military  escorts  whenever  they  may  need  to  travel  or 
to  remain  in  dangerous  zones;  finally,  that  a  conspicuous 
case  of  Mexico's  willingness  to  protect  the  lives  and  in- 
terests of  the  United  States  citizens  was  the  offer  made  of 
escorts  for  the  paymasters  of  the  oil  companies,  an  offer 
which  has  been  refused.  The  Government  has  also 
promised  to  refund  any  amount  of  money  taken  from 
[256] 


APPENDIX  I 


the  paymasters  despite  their  being  escorted,  and  that  for 
all  the  above  reasons  the  Mexican  Government  was  sur- 
prised at  the  threat  enclosed  in  the  last  part  of  the  note. 

Our  authorities  have  recently  arrested  in  Tampico  a 
United  States  citizen  by  the  name  of  Sam  Tolley,  who 
has  confessed  to  have  committed  several  assaults  in  that 
region,  and  turned  over  a  pistol  and  a  rifle.  He  also 
gave  information  regarding  another  American  citizen 
who  took  part  in  the  assault.  His  reports  on  the  bands 
of  marauders  who  have  held  up  oil  barges  are  of  great 
importance. 

On  several  occasions  our  Government  has  endeavoured 
through  our  Embassy  at  Washington  to  secure  the  return 
of  the  custom  duties  which  were  collected  in  the  port  of 
Vera  Cruz  by  the  American  forces  during  the  occupation 
of  that  city,  therefore  belonging  to  the  Mexican  Repub- 
lic. However,  no  satisfactory  result  has  even  been 
achieved,  not  even  a  categoric  reply. 

The  cessation  of  the  European  war  has  ended  many 
of  the  difficulties  Mexico  had  connected  with  it,  to 
which  due  reference  was  made  in  the  previous  report 
rendered  by  the  Executive  to  the  Honourable  Congress  of 
the  Union. 

The  Mexican  Republic  observed,  as  it  is  well  known, 
a  perfect  neutrality  during  that  conflict,  for  even  though 
certain  enemies  of  the  Government  and  people  interested 
on  various  occasions  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  Mex- 
ican Government  was  not  strictly  neutral,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  no  one  may  at  present  nor  shall  ever  be  able 
to  mention  an  act  or  omission  of  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment to  prove  the  slightest  breach  of  our  neutrality  if 
judging  in  accordance  with  the  most  exacting  principles 
[257] 


APPENDIX  I 


of  International  Law,  of  the  Treaties  in  force  and  of 
practices  universally  established. 

But  at  the  same  time,  most  unfortunately,  the  rights 
of  Mexico  as  a  neutral  were  not  always  duly  respected, 
for  some  United  States  warships  remained  in  exceptional 
cases  over  twenty-four  hours  in  our  territorial  waters, 
and  have  constantly  been  and  still  are  anchored  in  Tam- 
pico,  under  the  excuse  of  affording  protection  to  their 
citizens. 

When  the  struggle  was  over  the  Governments  of  the 
Allied  Powers  got  together  to  constitute  a  League  of 
Nations,  to  which  it  was  said  that  almost  all  countries 
would  have  access  under  certain  conditions;  all  of  them 
were  invited  excepting  a  few,  Mexico  among  them,  and 
our  Government  has  done  nothing,  nor  shall  ever  do,  to 
enter  into  that  international  society,  because  the  bases 
upon  which  it  was  formed  do  not  establish,  neither  as 
to  its  functions  nor  as  to  its  organization,  a  perfect 
equality  for  all  nations  and  all  races,  while  the  Mexican 
Government  has  proclaimed  as  the  main  principles  of 
its  international  policy  that  all  the  powers  of  earth  must 
have  the  same  rights  and  the  same  obligations,  and  also 
that  no  individual  may  pretend  to  be  placed  in  a  priv- 
ileged situation  nor  demand  extraordinary  protection  in 
a  country  under  the  pretext  of  being  a  foreigner  or  for 
any  other  reason. 

In  view  that  the  acceptance  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
was  discussed  at  the  Paris  Peace  Conference,  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Mexico  found  itself  compelled  to  make  a 
public  declaration  and  notify  officially  the  friendly 
powers,  that  Mexico  had  not  recognized  nor  would  do  it, 
[258] 


APPENDIX  I 


that  doctrine  because  it  upholds,  without  the  consent  of 
all  the  peoples  of  America,  a  thesis  and  creates  a  sit- 
uation on  which  no  opinion  has  ever  been  consulted 
with  such  peoples,  and  therefore  that  doctrine  impairs 
the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  Mexico  and  would 
constitute  for  all  the  nations  of  America  a  forced 
tutelage. 

Last  December  the  French  Legation  informed  the  De- 
partment of  Foreign  Affairs  that  according  to  the  clauses 
of  the  Armistice  signed  at  Treveris  in  November  last 
year,  the  German  delegates  had  agreed  with  the  Allied 
powers  not  to  dispose,  without  their  previous  consent,  of 
any  stock  in  money,  securities,  etc.,  owned  in  foreign 
countries  by  the  German  Government  or  by  private  Ger- 
man subjects,  and  informed  also  that  measures  would  be 
adopted  to  deprive  of  such  property  whoever  might  ac- 
quire it  through  purchase  or  transfer  of  any  kind,  for 
all  dealings  regarding  such  property  would  be  fraudu- 
lent. The  Italian  Legation  addressed  an  identical  note 
to  our  Foreign  Office,  to  which  the  Mexican  Government 
replied  that  it  could  not  recognize  any  effect  to  that 
agreement  within  our  territory,  because  it  was  against 
our  Constitution,  as  also  against  a  treaty  still  in  force 
between  Mexico  and  Germany,  more  so  since  the  Ger- 
man authorities  had  given  no  special  advice  to  Mexico 
in  that  regard. 

The  United  States  Embassy  and  the  Legations  of  Italy 
and  France  in  April  ult.,  informed  our  Department  of 
Foreign  Affairs  that  the  Supreme  Allied  Council  of 
Paris  had  entrusted  the  United  States  Government  with 
the  mission  to  take  from  Mexican  waters  the  merchant- 
[259] 


APPENDIX  I 


ships  belonging  to  citizens  or  subjects  of  enemy  coun- 
tries, and  that  the  German  Government  would  notify 
Mexico  also  in  that  regard. 

The  Department  answered  that  it  expected  to  receive 
Germany's  advice  in  order  to  then  resolve  the  case  and 
such  advice  was  received  last  July  in  our  Department, 
expressing  the  agreement  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Allies,  while  the  armistice  lasted,  German  steamships 
from  500  to  2,000  tons. 

The  official  who  was  in  charge  of  the  British  interests 
in  Mexico  addressed  himself  directly  to  the  Executive, 
informing  that,  without  including  the  sailships,  the  enemy 
ships  referred  to  in  the  above  mentioned  notes  should 
be  delivered  to  the  British  Government  instead  of  to  the 
United  States,  as  was  said  before,  and  that  the  only  ship 
in  the  conditions  described  was  the  Antonina,  anchored  at 
Tampico. 

Claims. — Some  time  ago  the  Mexican  Government  es- 
tablished the  way  in  which  damages  would  be  paid  for 
losses  sustained  during  the  revolution,  by  which  a  proof 
was  given  to  the  world  that  we  were  moved  by  a  more 
liberal  spirit  than  that  shown  by  other  Governments  un- 
der similar  conditions.  It  was  resolved  that  natives  as 
well  as  foreigners  would  apply  to  the  Claims  Commit- 
tee to  assert  their  rights,  and  in  case  of  some  foreigners 
disagreeing  with  the  judgment  of  that  board,  the  case 
would  be  submitted  to  the  decision  of  a  Mixed  Commis- 
sion, formed  by  a  representative  of  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment, a  delegate  of  the  Diplomatic  agent  from  the 
country  the  claimants  belong  to,  and  a  third  one  chosen 
by  mutual  agreement.  The  Claims  Commission  has  al- 
ready received  applications  made  by  foreigners,  the  num- 
[260] 


APPENDIX  I 


do. 

Turks  

3,434,196.66 

do. 

Germans  

657,362.54 

do. 

French  ...... 

282,841.32 

do. 

Italians   .... 

272,497.50 

do. 

U.  S.  citizens  . 

139,914.79 

do. 

Chinese  

38,662.38 

do. 

Guatemalan  .  . 

20,000.00 

do. 

British  subject 

9,907.25 

'do. 

Hollander  .  .  . 

7,700.00 

do. 

Austrian  .... 

3,225.38 

..S13.469.190.61 

her  of  which,  as  well  as  the  amounts,  are  as  follows: 

33  Claims  presented  by  Spaniards..  .$  8,602,882.79 

15  do. 

19  do. 

2  do. 

2  do. 

9  do. 

2  do. 

1  do. 

1  do. 

1  do. 

1  do. 


No  foreign  Government  has  ever  opposed  any  objec- 
tion to  the  purposes  Mexico  has  in  view  regarding  pay- 
ment of  indemnities.  However,  it  is  remarkable  to  no- 
tice the  contrast  there  is  between  the  small  number  of 
claims  presented  by  some,  as  for  instance,  by  British 
subjects  and  United  States  citizens,  with  the  assertion 
generally  made  regarding  the  damages  they  have  suf- 
fered. The  Mexican  Government  has  all  reasons  to  be- 
lieve that  all  claims  shall  be  submitted  to  the  respective 
Commissions,  especially  so  on  account  of  the  recent 
changes  made  to  the  corresponding  law  and  devised  to 
meet  objections  of  a  secondary  character  made  to  the 
presentation  of  claims  against  the  Government  of  Mex- 
ico for  damages  caused  during  our  Civil  War,  since  this 
Government  has  proved  not  only  to  be  moved  by  a  spirit 
of  justice  in  this  matter,  but  also  to  be  most  desirous  of 
dealing  with  all  equity  and  in  a  spirit  of  conciliation. 
[261] 


APPENDIX  I 


On  the  other  hand  the  Congress  of  the  Union  will 
vote  the  necessary  amounts  to  pay  the  claims  approved. 

The  relations  between  Mexico  and  Great  Britain  have 
been  interrupted,  as  the  Honourable  Congress  knows  well 
and  in  spite  of  it  the  person  who  was  in  charge  of  that 
legation  usually  addressed  himself  to  the  Chief  Execu- 
tive in  behalf  of  his  fellow-countrymen.  In  view  that 
this  created  a  situation  not  only  unnatural  but  also 
privileged  and  unacceptable  even  in  case  of  that  person 
being  an  Extraordinary  Envoy  and  Plenipotentiary  Min- 
ister well  accredited,  more  so  then,  when  such  person  had 
no  recognized  official  capacity  whatsoever;  it  became 
necessary  to  tell  that  gentleman  that  his  behaviour  was 
irregular  and  improper,  especially  so  since  a  high  au- 
thority of  his  Government  had  recently  repeated  in  a 
public  manner  that  Great  Britain  intended  not  to  main- 
tain relations  with  Mexico.  It  was  also  said  that  his 
presence  in  national  territory  was  inconsistent  with  this 
situation. 

Our  diplomatic  representative  in  Peru  informed  that 
the  Government  of  that  country  had  been  overthrown, 
a  new  administration  being  organized  under  the  Pres- 
idency of  Mr.  Augusto  B.  Leguia. 

Our  Legation  in  Costa  Rica  reported  by  wire  that 
Mr.  Tinoco  had  left  the  Presidency  and  General  Juan 
Quiroz  assumed  the  Executive  Power. 

Our  relations  with  the  Spanish-American  countries 
have  been  now  as  ever  most  cordial  and  without  the 
least  friction,  for  on  the  contrary  several  occurrences 
have  made  evident  once  more  the  fraternal  feelings  of  all 
the  Indo-Latin  peoples. 

Unfortunately  our  Extraordinary  Envoy  and  Pleni- 
[262] 


APPENDIX  I 


potentiary  Minister  to  the  Republics  of  Argentine  and 
Uruguay,  Mr.  Amado  Nervo,  died  at  Montevideo  on  the 
24th  of  last  May,  and  on  this  account  the  peoples  and 
governments  of  Uruguay  and  Argentine  made  evident 
their  fraternal  feelings  toward  Mexico,  and  their  ex- 
traordinary consideration  for  the  deceased  official.  By 
official  decree  honours  were  paid  him  as  Secretary  of 
State,  and  a  funeral  of  exceptional  significance  was  held, 
attended  not  only  by  the  Diplomatic  Corps  and  certain 
officials,  but  even  the  very  President  of  the  Republic,  His 
Excellency  Baltasar  Brun.  That  Government  has  noti- 
fied our  Foreign  office  that  Mr.  Nervo's  remains  will  be 
sent  to  Mexico  on  board  a  Uruguayan  warship,  which 
will  probably  leave  the  shores  of  that  friendly  country 
in  the  first  days  of  this  month. 

These  tokens  of  singular  courtesy  speak  very  highly 
of  the  fraternal  friendship  and  mutual  sympathy  bind- 
ing all  the  Spanish-American  Republics,  for  on  this  oc- 
casion there  was  not  only  the  tribute  paid  by  the  re- 
spective governments,  but  also  private  citizens  and  the 
general  public  showed  true  affection  for  Mexico. 

Last  January  our  Extraordinary  Envoy  and  Plenipo- 
tentiary Minister  before  the  Government  of  Guatemala, 
General  Jose  Bermudez  de  Castro,  died,  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  that  sister  Republic  paid  him  on  that  account  the 
honours  due  his  high  position.  The  corpse  was  brought 
to  Mexico,  where  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  ar- 
ranged the  funeral  proper  for  that  distinguished  official. 

Last  May  the  Republic  of  Salvador  was  shaken  by 
several  earthquakes  and  the  Mexican  Government  con- 
tributed with  $20,000  to  help  the  victims  of  that  catas- 
[263] 


APPENDIX  I 


trophe,  as  it  could  do  no  less  for  a  sister  Republic  which 
has  given  us  so  many  tokens  of  friendship. 

Conventions  have  been  concluded  for  the  use  of  diplo- 
matic mailbags  with  Peru  in  March  this  year,  with  Chile 
last  May  and  with  Costa  Rica  last  July,  these  treaties  to 
be  in  force  as  soon  as  the  Senate  approves  them. 


Boundaries. — The  International  Commission  of  Boun- 
daries with  the  United  States  has  been  actively  working, 
and  it  projects  a  new  Treaty  on  distribution  of  waters 
from  the  Bravo  and  Colorado  Rivers.  The  same  body 
has  been  engaged  in  works  connected  with  the  removal 
of  shoals  in  the  lower  Rio  Grande. 

In  regard  to  our  southern  boundaries  with  Guatemala, 
nothing  new  has  occurred  except  the  reconstruction  of  a 
bridge  called  "  El  Talisman,"  on  the  Suchiate  River. 


Our  international  trade  relations  have  increased  a  good 
deal,  and  in  order  to  meet  the  actual  necessities  con- 
nected therewith  our  Consular  Service  has  been  per- 
fected, new  offices  being  opened  and  we  are  endeavouring 
in  all  possible  ways  to  fill  vacancies  by  promotion  of 
the  oldest  and  most  efficient  clerks  of  the  same  offices. 

The  foreign  governments  have  for  their  part  appointed 
in  several  cities  of  the  Republic  88  new  consular  rep- 
resentatives, and  the  Executive  has  granted  16  Exequa- 
turs, 36  permanent  authorizations  and  35  provisional 
ones. 

A  good  proof  of  the  increase  of  our  foreign  trade  are 
the  figures  recorded  as  income  of  our  Embassy,  Lega- 
tions and  Consulates  on  account  of  legalization  of  sig- 
[264] 


APPENDIX  I 


natures,  fees  on  Manifests  and  Consular  invoices,  Mar- 
iners registers  and  certificates,  all  of  which  gave  the 
Government  an  income  of  $7,255,315.94  during  a  period 
between  September,  1918,  and  August,  1919,  against  $5,- 
669,389.94  recorded  during  the  same  length  of  time  in 
the  previous  year,  which  means  an  increase  of  $1,585,- 
926.00. 

During  the  fiscal  year  1908-1910,  which  was  consid- 
ered the  most  flourishing  during  the  time  prior  to  the 
revolution,  the  collections  made  on  the  same  account 
were  only  $1,248,962.90,  and  therefore  the  income  of 
last  year  increased  over  that  sum  by  more  than  six 
million  pesos. 

The  amount  collected  by  legations  and  consulates  is 
far  above  the  whole  budget  of  the  Department  of  For- 
eign Affairs,  the  Embassy,  the  Legations  and  Consul- 
ates all  together,  for  it  amounts  to  $2,400,000  more  or 
less.  Therefore  the  services  of  the  Foreign  Department 
not  only  furnish  funds  for  their  own  expenditures,  but 
also  give  the  Erarium  an  income  of  considerable  import. 

In  order  to  defend  the  rights  of  some  Mexicans  abroad 
the  Government  paid  lawyers'  fees  during  the  period  I 
speak  of  amounting  to  $31,369.22,  and  repatriated  needy 
Mexicans  and  helped  others  with  pecuniary  aid,  spend- 
ing $21,623.56  on  it  through  the  Foreign  Department. 

Sixty  aliens  applied  to  the  Department,  requesting 
papers  of  Mexican  citizenship,  during  the  same  months, 
and  55  certificates  were  issued. 

According  to  Article  33  of  the  Constitution  67  for- 
eigners were  expelled  from  the  country,   belonging  to 
different  nations.     The  number  of  documents  legalized 
by  the  Office  in  the  same  period  was  4,856. 
[265] 


APPENDIX  I 


Some  1,656  permits  have  been  granted  to  foreigners 
to  acquire  real  estate  in  the  Republic,  according  to  the 
prescriptions  of  Art.  27  of  the  Constitution.  The  detail 
is  as  follows: 

Germans 127 

United  States  Citizens 415 

Austrians 18 

Argentineans 3 

Belgians    6 

Cubans    6 

Chinese    19 

Danish   3 

Spaniards   615 

French    140 

Greeks    3 

Guatemaleans    1 

Hollanders   13 

Hondurenas    7 

British  Subjects 83 

Italians    93 

Japanese 2 

Turks    59 

Rumanians   1 

Salvadoreans 3 

Swedes    5 

Swiss    19 

Uruguayan    3 

Norwegian    4 

Hungarian    8 

Total 1,656 

[266] 


APPENDIX  I 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  CONCLUDING  REMARKS 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  reading  of  the  reports  of  the 
various  departments,  President  Carranza  spoke  as 
follows: 

From  a  resume  of  the  aforesaid  data  you  can  obtain 
an  irrefutable  demonstration  of  the  assertions  made  in 
the  foreword  of  this  report,  in  which  I  stated  that  the 
Republic  had  sensibly  progressed  in  spite  of  the  vain 
designs  of  the  reactionaries  and  bandits.  The  interior 
administration  is  firm  and  has  not  been  weakened  by 
the  elections  of  local  officials.  It  is  true  that  in  some 
States  elections  have  provoked  effervescence,  but  the 
local  troubles  have  developed  in  a  legal  form.  Highly 
significant  is  the  persistency  with  which  our  institutions 
have  been  transformed  by  means  of  the  initiatives  of 
law  presented  to  the  Congress,  the  decrees  that  the 
Executive  has  issued  in  use  of  its  extraordinary  powers 
and  the  regulations  that  have  been  approved  upon  an 
ascending  scale  of  order  and  justice.  The  intervened 
properties  have  been  returned  to  their  owners,  with  the 
exception  of  those  belonging  to  the  responsible  accom- 
plices of  the  uprising  in  1913,  who  have  responsibilities 
clearly  determined  by  our  constitution.  Nationals  and 
foreigners  have  confidence  in  the  interior  conditions  of 
the  Republic  and  this  is  proved  by  the  increasing  of 
immigration  and  the  return  of  Mexicans.  The  solicita- 
tion of  concessions  to  invest  capital  in  the  Republic  is 
a  fact  upon  which  the  foreign  press  have  made  com- 
ment as  well  as  the  investors  interested  in  bringing  to 
Mexico  their  elements  of  labour.  Comparison  of  the 
importations  and  exportations  of  the  period 
[267] 


APPENDIX  I 


to  the  revolution  and  the  last  year,  1918,  in  which  the 
commerce  of  the  world  was  very  much  restricted,  shows 
that  in  spite  of  all  circumstances  our  foreign  commerce 
considerably  exceeded  that  of  the  best  years  registered 
in  our  statistics.  The  exportation  was  almost  double 
that  of  1910.  The  public  finances  offer  a  decisive  bet- 
terment. In  1917  the  deficit  was  $35,000,000,  more  or 
less;  in  1918  it  was  $18,000,000,  and  in  the  present  year 
the  expenses  will  be  totally  covered.  The  time  is  com- 
ing when  the  Government  will  begin  to  pay  its  debts. 

The  army  has  a  disproportionate  organization,  as  it 
was  observed  that  an  excess  of  officials  over  the  troops 
always  existed.  At  present  the  army  is  thoroughly  or- 
ganized, it  is  subject  to  ordinances,  and  it  can  be  as- 
serted that  the  discipline  is  habitual  in  almost  all  mili- 
tary components.  The  majority  of  the  rebel  leaders  have 
died,  and  those  that  still  menace  the  absolute  pacification 
are  dispersed.  As  proofs  of  the  national  development 
are  the  statistics  of  the  departments  of  Communications, 
Industry  and  Commerce,  and  of  Agriculture  and  Devel- 
opment, in  comparison  with  the  administrative  volume  of 
the  preceding  years.  In  fact,  the  railroads  in  exploita- 
tion during  1917  amounted  to  11,068  kilometres,  and 
at  present  they  cover  13,784  kilometres,  administered 
by  the  government.  The  postoffices  in  1917  were  1,200, 
and  at  present  they  are  2,473.  The  postal  routes  in  that 
year  were  39,000  kilometres.  At  present  they  are  45,- 
605.  Postal  drafts  amounted  to  more  than  $26,219,830 
in  the  present  year,  while  in  1917  they  were  only  $10,- 
000,000.  In  1917  1,057  kilometres  of  telegraph  line 
were  constructed  and  in  this  year  we  constructed  1,879 
kilometres.  The  telegraphic  drafts  amounted  in  that 
[268] 


APPENDIX  I 


year  to  $4,000,000,  and  in  the  present  year  they  were 
$12,000,000.  The  mining  titles  issued  in  1915,  1916 
and  1917  were  578,  and  in  the  last  year  they  amounted 
to  764,  which  shows  an  increase  of  more  than  double  the 
amount.  Patents  of  invention  in  1917  were  500,  and  in 
the  last  year  832.  Commercial  marks  registered  in  1917 
amounted  to  450,  and  in  the  last  year  they  were  1,032. 
Regarding  agriculture  and  development,  the  concessions 
for  exploitation  of  timber  suspended  in  1917  were 
granted  again  in  the  last  year.  They  amounted  to  six- 
teen. One  hundred  and  forty-six  permissions  for  cutting 
hard  wood  timber  were  granted;  36  for  the  extraction 
of  chicle,  and  386  for  the  exploitation  of  other  products. 
The  agricultural  school  is  in  operation.  We  have  con- 
tinued the  purchasing  of  agricultural  machinery  in  great 
quantities  to  extend  its  use  among  the  farmers.  From 
the  immigration,  the  prosperity  of  agriculture  and  in- 
dustry, the  equalization  of  the  expenses  and  the  in- 
come, the  solidification  of  the  administration,  the  ac- 
complishment of  all  the  revolutionary  promises,  espe- 
cially that  regarding  lands,  the  watching  of  the  finances 
of  the  government,  the  impulse  given  to  our  culture,  and 
all  the  detailed  news  you  have  heard,  you  cannot  doubt 
the  importance  of  the  labour  of  the  administration  which 
has  given  all  the  possible  profits  in  accordance  with  its 
capacity  in  this  period  of  world  wide  crisis. 

The  respectability  of  Mexico  before  all  the  nations  of 
the  world  has  been  maintained  with  the  energy  and 
prudence  demanded  by  internationalities.  The  causes  of 
trouble  can  be  divided  into  four  different  sections: 
Those  regarding  special  conditions  on  the  border  of  the 
United  States;  those  originated  by  damages  to  foreign 
[269] 


APPENDIX  I 


properties;  those  which  refer  to  personal  injuries  of 
citizens  of  foreign  countries  residing  in  Mexico;  and 
those  arising  from  the  application  of  the  revolutionary 
laws.  Regarding  the  first  one,  history  mentions  the  fre- 
quent passage  of  American  troops  into  the  national  ter- 
ritory and  the  problem  principally  is  of  policing  for 
the  safety  of  both  countries.  The  invasions  of  American 
troops  have  been  repeated  since  the  middle  of  last  cen- 
tury, and  various  arrangements  have  been  projected  with 
the  object  of  prosecuting  the  bandits  who  cross  from  one 
country  into  the  other.  The  government  believes  that 
this  cause  of  trouble  will  disappear  as  soon  as  an  agree- 
ment is  reached  to  protect  the  border.  Regarding  the 
damages  to  foreign  properties,  it  may  be  stated  that  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  a  mixed  commission  of  reclama- 
tions has  been  operating,  only  a  small  number  of  for- 
eigners have  demanded  indemnizations  for  the  damages 
caused  by  the  revolution  since  1913.  As  a  proof  of  the 
goodwill  the  government  has  to  repair  even  the  dam- 
ages caused  by  the  bandits,  there  has  been  introduced 
into  the  law  of  the  Commission  of  Indemnizations  a  new 
rule  of  covering  the  damages  caused  by  bandits,  when 
these  damages  are  not  caused  by  the  imprudence  of  the 
injured  person,  and  the  authorities  can  be  blamed  with 
omissions,  and  also  when  the  injured  persons  are  not  in 
sympathy  with  the  bandits. 

The  law  recognizes  the  damages  to  foreigners  and 
pledges  to  the  immediate  payment  of  the  indemnization 
with  the  same  limits  that  are  mentioned  for  the  damages 
to  properties.  Regarding  this  point,  it  is  to  be  stated 
that  it  is  impossible  for  a  government,  especially  after 
a  revolution,  to  prevent  in  all  the  regions  of  the  nation 
[270] 


APPENDIX  I 


the  attacks  against  nationals  or  foreigners.  The  effi- 
cacy with  which  the  government  has  punished  those  re- 
sponsible for  offences  against  foreigners  is  very  signifi- 
cant, when  it  is  considered  that  Mexico  and  the  United 
States  have  unfortunately  been  in  the  same  circum- 
stances regarding  the  attacks  that  the  inhabitants  of  one 
country  have  committed  against  the  citizens  of  the  other. 
It  would  be  desirable  that  the  diplomatic  representatives 
accredited  in  this  republic  should  advise  constantly  their 
nationals  to  exercise  more  prudence  with  the  purpose  of 
avoiding  the  causes  of  trouble.  The  Executive  hopes 
that  when  the  cause  of  imprudence  is  removed,  and  the 
protection  of  the  troops  and  of  the  police  is  intensified, 
the  attacks  will  be  more  scarce  and  the  difficulties  will 
have  less  importance. 

The  foreigners  residing  in  the  country  are  so  con- 
vinced of  the  sincerity  of  and  efficacy  of  the  government 
to  give  guaranties  that  in  spite  of  the  accidents  occurring 
in  our  country  the  naturalization  of  citizens  and  sub- 
jects of  other  countries  increases  every  day,  because  they 
have  confidence  in  the  authorities  and  in  the  laws,  as  is 
proven  by  the  many  foreigners  that  have  adjusted  them- 
selves to  the  requisites  demanded  by  the  supreme  law  to 
obtain  real  estate. 

The  fourth  cause  of  trouble  is  of  a  severe  nature.  It 
deals  with  objections  that  are  practically  a  limitation 
to  our  national  sovereignty.  The  revolution  has  put  in 
force  reforms  that  represent  the  welfare  and  the  progress 
and  tranquillity  of  the  Mexican  people,  renewing  its  in- 
stitutions in  important  branches,  as  that  regarding  lands 
and  the  exploitation  of  the  natural  wealth.  The  govern- 
ment desires  to  respect  and  consolidate  the  existent  rights, 
[271] 


APPENDIX  I 


but  it  absolutely  cannot  accept  the  limitation  of  the  lib- 
erty of  the  Mexicans  to  be  governed  in  accordance  with 
their  own  needs.  A  conciliatory  spirit  and  a  desire  for 
harmony  in  accordance  with  the  law  will  be  exerted  to 
conquer  the  difficulties  which  may  arise,  but  always  main- 
taining firm  our  sovereignty.  Mexico  will  comply  with 
its  obligations  with  nationals  and  foreigners.  The  doubts 
arising  in  this  matter  have  been  due  only  to  mininterpre- 
tations  of  the  conduct  of  the  government,  which  is  not 
capable  of  denying  its  legitimate  obligations.  The  de- 
lay in  the  payment  is  due  to  motives  that  cannot  be  over- 
come at  present. 

The  Executive  has  given  a  preferent  place  to  the  leg- 
islation on  petroleum,  as  is  proven  by  the  peremptory 
character  with  which  was  sent  the  project  of  law  to  the 
Chambers  on  the  1st  of  May,  when  the  extraordinary  pe- 
riod of  sessions  was  inaugurated. 

The  actual  situation  promises  for  the  next  year  a 
greater  progress  in  the  conditions  of  the  government. 
The  Executive  hopes  that  he  will  have  the  goodwill  of  the 
legislative  and  judicial  powers,  with  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  the  increasing  moral  and  material  activities 
of  the  life  of  the  Republic,  as  I  have  informed  you. 
In  conclusion,  it  is  logical  to  conclude  that  if  all  the 
exterior  troubles  can  be  evaded  or  removed,  the  vigorous 
interior  resurgement  of  the  country  will  assure  the  fruits 
of  all  the  sacrifices  and  will  maintain  its  march  in  the 
development  marked  at  present  with  a  great  success. 


[272] 


APPENDIX  II 

PROOF  OF  THE  PLOT;  BEING  A  POSTSCRIPT 
BY  THE  AUTHOR 

In  accordance  with  Senate  Resolutions  numbers  106 
and  163,  the  sub-committee  of  the  .Senate  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations  met  Monday,  September  8,  1919,  in 
the  Senate  Office  Building,  Washington  to  begin  "an  in- 
vestigation of  Mexican  affairs."  The  sub-committee  was 
clothed  by  these  resolutions  with  all  the  powers  of  a  high 
court  of  justice  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  "the  mat- 
ter of  damages  and  outrages  suffered  by  citizens  of  the 
United  States  in  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  including  the 
number  of  citizens  who  have  been  killed  or  have  suf- 
fered personal  outrages  in  Mexico  and  the  amount  of 
proper  indemnity  for  such  murders  and  outrages;  the 
quantity  of  damages  suffered  on  account  of  the  destruc- 
tion, confiscation,  and  larceny  of  personal  property  for 
such  murders  and  outrages,"  etc.,  since  the  retirement  of 
Porfirio  Diaz;  and  the  resolution  also  provided  that  "the 
said  committee  shall  further  investigate  and  report  to 
the  Senate  what,  if  any,  measures  should  be  taken  to 
prevent  a  recurrence  of  such  outrages." 

The  sub-committee  consisted  of  Albert  B.  Fall,  of  New 
Mexico;  Frank  B.  Brandegee,  of  Connecticut,  Republi- 
cans; and  Marcus  A.  Smith,  of  Arizona,  Democrat.  Mr. 
Smith  has  been  absent  from  the  sittings  of  the  sub-com- 
mittee because  of  ill-health.  Mr.  Brandegee  has  fre- 
quently been  absent,  and  the  entire  direction  of  the  sub- 
committee's activities  have  vested  in  Senator  Fall. 

According  to  the  Washington  correspondent  of  the 
[273] 


APPENDIX  II 


New  York  Sun,  in  announcing  the  appointment  of  the 
sub -committee  to  investigate  Mexico: 

"Mr.  Fall  for  years  has  been  demanding  a  vigorous 
policy  in  Mexico.  He  is  at  once  the  best  informed  man 
in  Congress  as  to  all  Mexican  affairs,  and  the  most  bit- 
ter critic  of  the  Administration's  policy  there.  Likewise, 
he  has  been  an  outspoken  enemy  of  the  Carranza  regime." 

According  to  the  New  York  Times,  in  an  editorial 
commenting  on  Senator  Fall's  opening  session  as  Chair- 
man of  this  Sub-Committee: 

"Senator  Fall  has  never  concealed  his  opinion  of  the 
course  the  United  States  Government  should  adopt  in  the 
matter.  Speaking  at  the  Lawyers'  Club  in  this  city  two 
years  ago  he  said: 

"  'I  favour  the  immediate  organization  of  an  army  of 
500,000  men,  ostensibly  for  the  policing  of  Mexico  or 
for  the  invasion  of  that  country,  to  protect  our  citizens, 
if  necessary.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  United  States  should 
annex  Mexico;  that  I  would  never  agree  to,  but  it  should 
be  kept  in  a  peaceful  condition  as  a  buffer  State  between 
this  country  and  the  Latin-American  republics  to  the 
south  of  it.' 

"In  the  Senate  on  March  9,  1914,  Mr.  Fall  urged  the 
employment  of  the  'land  and  naval  forces,'  to  protect 
'our  citizens  and  other  foreigners  in  Mexico,'  and  to 
pacify  the  country.  He  affected  to  believe  that  the  in- 
tervention he  proposed  would  not  be  an  act  of  war,  but 
was  sharply  corrected  by  Senator  Shively  of  Indiana." 

According  to  the  New  York  Globe  of  September  9th: 

"Senator  Fall,  on  the  other  hand,  left  little  doubt  that 
he  was  there  not  to  find  out  the  truth  about  Mexico  but  to 
drag  from  the  witness  facts  in  support  of  his  own  pre- 
[274] 


APPENDIX  II 


vious  conviction.  It  is  indeed  unfortunate  that  at  a  crisis 
in  our  relations  with  Mexico  this  country's  sole  official 
investigation  of  the  situation  should  be  in  the  hands  of  a 
committee  which  is  dominated  by  active  interventionist 
beliefs,  with  a  minority  which  is  bitterly  anti-adminis- 
tration. The  truth  can  hardly  be  expected  to  come  out 
other  than  badly  battered  through  such  a  tortuous  pas- 
sage." 

At  all  the  sessions  of  the  sub-committee  included  in 
this  review  there  were  present  Edward  L.  Doheny,  Presi- 
dent of  the  largest  group  of  American  oil  companies  op- 
erating in  Mexico;  Harold  Walker,  his  confidential  rep- 
resentative; Charles  Hudson  Boynton,  Executive  Director 
of  the  National  Association  for  the  Protection  of  Ameri- 
can Rights  in  Mexico,  and  press  agent  for  various  oil  in- 
terests; Agnes  C.  Laut  and  William  Gates,  authors  of 
numerous  articles  attacking  the  present  regime  in  Mex- 
ico, some  of  whom  were  under  subpoena. 

The  interest  of  the  Committee  on  Mexico  of  the  League 
of  Free  Nations  Association  was  dual.  First,  the  com- 
mittee desired  to  establish  by  the  testimony  of  those  of 
its  members  who  had  recently  visited  Mexico  that  con- 
ditions there  have  greatly  improved,  and  that  there  is  no 
need  of  an  intervention  on  the  part  of  the  United  States; 
second,  that  an  elaborate  propaganda  chiefly  directed  by 
the  oil  interests,  was  seeking  to  influence  the  press  and 
to  inflame  public  sentiment  against  Mexico,  with  a  view 
to  an  American  intervention. 

As  a  member  of  the  committee  I  feel  that  it  has  proved 
its  case,  although  the  efforts  of  Senator  Fall  to  discredit 
its  witnesses  fill  a  large  part  of  the  first  two  volumes  of 
the  printed  testimony,  with  which  this  statement  exclu- 

[275] 


APPENDIX  II 


sively  deals.  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  Senator 
Fall  will  achieve  his  purpose  of  painting  a  picture  of 
Mexico  in  the  most  sombre  colours,  in  accordance  with 
the  phobia  against  Mexico  which  has  been  his  distinguish- 
ing characteristic  in  public  life. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  hearings,  Senator  Fall  read 
into  the  record  letters  from  James  G.  McDonald,  chair- 
man of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  League  of  Free 
Nations  Association,  New  York,  one  of  which  contained 
the  following  paragraphs: 

"Several  of  the  members  of  our  Mexican  committee 
have  been  in  Mexico  recently,  and  are  in  a  position  to 
give  information  regarding  present-day  conditions  there. 
They  will  be  glad  to  appear  before  your  committee  at 
your  convenience. 

"May  we  not  venture  to  express  the  hope  that  the 
Senate  sub-committee  will  exercise  more  discretion  in  its 
selection  of  witnesses  than  did  the  House  Committee  on 
Rules? 

"Denunciations  of  a  Government  with  which  the  United 
States  continues  to  be  in  friendly  treaty  relations  by  a 
go-between  for  various  bandit  chiefs  were  widely  ex- 
ploited through  the  press  recently,  and  as  loyal  Ameri- 
cans we  hope  your  committee  will  not  lend  itself  to 
similar  propaganda." 

Dr.  Samuel  Guy  Inman,  executive  secretary  of  the 
Committee  on  Co-operation  in  Latin  America,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  on  Mexico  of  the  League  of  Free 
Nations  Association,  was  the  first  witness.  Senator 
Fall's  attitude  toward  Dr.  Inman  and  that  of  the  other 
witnesses  offered  by  the  Committee  on  Mexico,  was 
marked  throughout  by  deliberate  discourtesy  which  con- 
[276] 


APPENDIX  II 


trasted  strongly  with  the  sympathetic  attitude  he  mani- 
fested when  E.  L.  Doheny,  Agnes  C.  Laut,  and  various 
other  witnesses  representing  the  oil  interests  were  testify- 
ing. Dr.  Inman  had  heen  for  ten  years  teacher  of  a 
mission  school  in  Mexico,  where  he  became  personally 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Carranza,  whose  farm  was  nearby, 
and  had  visited  Mexico  in  the  spring  of  1919  to  attend 
a  missionary  conference  held  there.  Senator  Fall  de- 
sired Dr.  Inman  to  give  the  committee  precise  informa- 
tion regarding  the  nationalization  of  women  and  the  ex- 
tent of  venereal  disease  among  little  girls  in  Mexico. 
Dr.  Inman  denied  that  there  was  either  law  or  custom 
for  nationalization  of  Mexican  women.  The  following 
dialogue  is  then  reported  on  page  72  of  the  printed 
record : 

THE  CHAIRMAN.  And  you  know  nothing  about  the  outrages  of 
little  children  in  Mexico  which  have  filled  the  hospitals  now  with 
those  children  suffering  with  venereal  diseases? 

DR.  INMAN.    No,  sir;  I  never  heard  of  that. 

THE  CHAIRMAN.    You  have  not  been  in  the  hospitals  of  Mexico? 

DR.  INMAN.    No,  sir. 

THE  CHAIRMAN.  You  have  been  writing  about  Mexico  and  con- 
ditions in  Mexico? 

DR.  INMAN.    Yes,  sir. 

THE  CHAIRMAN.  Do  you  not  think  you  might  very  well  have 
spent  a  few  days  in  the  city  of  Mexico  and  in  the  hospitals  among 
these  poor  people? 

DR.  INMAN.  If  I  had  done  everything  you  had  suggested  this 
afternoon,  I  never  would  have  gotten  to  write  that  book. 

THE  CHAIRMAN.  If  you  did  not  do  some  of  those  things,  you 
should  never  have  written  the  book.  I  have  not  written  a  book. 

DR.  INMAN.    I  hope  some  day  you  will  write  a  book. 

THE  CHAIRMAN.  I  am  going  to  write  a  chapter  before  we  get 
through  with  this  investigation. 

We  will  be  in  recess  until  11  o'clock  tomorrow. 

Dr.  Inman  told  of  extensive  travels  through  Latin 
America  for  missionary  purposes,  and  of  the  better- 

[277] 


APPENDIX  II 


ment  of  relations  between  the  countries  visited  and  the 
United  States,  and  added:  "I  believe  our  relationships 
to  Mexico  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with  our  relationships 
with  all  of  Latin  America.  We  are  now  in  a  new  day 
in  Pan  Americanism.  ...  I  feel  convinced  that  if  ... 
we  should  have  armed  intervention  in  Mexico  that  that 
would  prejudice  all  Latin-American  countries,  and  would 
set  back  this  development  of  Pan  American  friendship 
in  a  way  that  could  not  be  described;  in  a  very,  very, 
large  way.  Therefore  I  think  that  in  all  our  dealings 
with  the  Mexican  question  we  should  take  into  account 
the  whole  of  Pan  America."  He  continued: 

"In  the  second  place,  I  would  like  to  call  the  commit- 
tee's attention  to  the  interests  of  the  missionary  forces 
of  North  America  in  Mexico.  There  are  probably  150 
to  200  American  missionaries  in  Mexico  at  the  present 
time.  They  have  had  the  best  year  in  their  history  dur- 
ing 1918  and  1919.  The  mission  schools  are  all 
crowded;  the  churches  are  crowded.  From  six  hundred 
to  a  thousand  people  come  together  in  one  church  in 
Mexico  City  every  Sunday,  and  the  churches  are  crowded 
to  capacity  in  Mexico  City,  in  Chihuahua,  in  Guadala- 
jara, in  Puebla,  in  Vera  Cruz,  in  Yucatan,  and  I  might 
say  in  practically  every  region  of  Mexico.  These  mis- 
sionaries are  scattered  all  over  Mexico,  in  practically 
every  part  of  the  country.  Their  schools  are  crowded 
at  the  present  time;  their  hospitals  are  overrun,  and 
there  are  continual  demands  for  their  services." 

Asked  if  he  got  his  impressions  of  present  day  condi- 
tions in  Mexico  from  the  Mexican  newspapers,  Dr.  Inman 
said: 

"No,  sir;  I  got  it,  first  from  my  own  experience  down 
[278]  ' 


APPENDIX  11 


there  in  January,  February,  and  March,  and  I  got  it 
from  the  missionaries  who  are  located  in  all  parts  of 
Mexico  and  with  whom  I  have  continued  correspondence. 
For  instance,  in  January  there  were  22  representatives 
of  mission  boards  who  went  to  attend  a  conference  in 
the  city  of  Mexico.  Some  of  them  went  into  Mexico  by 
way  of  Arizona  and  went  down  the  west  coast  through 
Sonora,  through  Guadalajara  to  Mexico  City;  others 
came  through  El  Paso,  down  to  Chihuahua  and  Durango 
to  Mexico  City.  Others  came  from  Eagle  Pass  and  others 
from  Laredo  down  through  Monterey  and  San  Luis  to 
Mexico  City;  others  through  Brownesville  and  Tampico 
to  Mexico  City;  others  from  Vera  Cruz.  Some  of  these 
ladies  and  gentlemen  had  not  travelled  in  Mexico  and 
did  not  speak  any  Spanish,  but  they  all  arrived  without 
any  untoward  event  whatsoever,  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  and 
we  had  our  conference  there.  I  should  be  glad  to  read 
here  a  resolution  that  was  passed  at  the  time." 

THE  CHAIRMAN.    Give  the  date  of  it,  please. 
DR.  INMAN  (reading) : 

The  conference  of  Christian  workers  meeting  in  the  City  of 
Mexico,  February  17  to  22,  1919,  wishes  to  express  its  deep  grati- 
tude for  the  cordial  way  in  which  it  has  been  received  by  all  the 
people  and  for  the  fact  that  improved  conditions  and  the  open- 
mindedness  of  the  people  permit  Christian  work  to  be  carried  on 
in  all  parts  of  the  Republic,  with  protection  and  welcome  for  the 
workers. 

The  20  delegates  from  the  United  States,  before  arriving  at  the 
capital,  have  visited  their  work  in  all  sections  of  the  country, 
the  routes  of  some  being  through  Nogales,  Sonora,  Sinaloa,  and 
Guadalajara;  others  through  El  Paso,  Chihuahua,  and  Aguas 
Calientes;  others  through  Laredo,  Monterey,  and  Saltillo;  others 
through  Matamoras,  Victoria,  Tampico,  and  San  Luis  Potosi;  and 
others  through  Vera  Cruz,  Jalapa,  and  Puebla.  Such  travel  has 
been  attended  with  no  untoward  incident  whatever,  and  with  a 
far  greater  degree  of  comfort  than  was  anticipated. 

Many  encouraging  evidences  were  found  of  the  fact  that  the 

[279] 


APPENDIX  II 


country  is  slowly  but  surely  returning  to  normal  conditions,  so- 
cially, economically,  and  politically.  While  some  outlying  districts 
are  still  greatly  disturbed,  practically  all  the  centres  exhibit  stable 
conditions. 

We  recognize  keenly  the  many  difficulties  against  which  the 
Government  is  working  in  restoring  the  country  to  a  normal  life, 
and  register  our  hearty  sympathy  with  the  Mexican  people  in  their 
earnest  struggle  toward  the  real  democracy. 

We  pledge  ourselves  to  do  all  within  our  power  to  promote  a 
closer  friendship  and  clearer  understanding  between  the  two 
neighbouring  Republics,  both  by  making  known  in  the  United 
States  the  real  developments  and  deep  aspirations  we  have  found 
among  the  Mexican  people,  and  by  encouraging  in  every  possible 
way  the  increase  of  those  institutions  and  movements  which  are 
set  to  aid  Mexico  in  her  struggle  toward  a  new  life. 

In  regard  to  the  propaganda  for  an  intervention  in 
Mexico,  Dr.  Inman,  who  is  the  author  of  a  recent  book 
setting  forth  what  intervention  means,  quoted  the  Field 
Secretary  of  the  National  Association  for  the  Protection 
of  American  Rights  in  Mexico,  as  reported  in  a  San 
Francisco  newspaper,  in  part  as  follows: 

"Seeking  the  support  of  local  leaders,  Maj.  John  G. 
MacDonnell,  United  States  Army,  one  of  Lieut.  Gen. 
Hunter  Liggett's  staff  in  France,  arrived  in  San  Francisco 
yesterday  to  promote  plans  to  solve  the  Mexican  prob- 
lem. Maj.  MacDonnell  is  field  secretary  for  the  National 
Association  for  the  Protection  of  American  Rights  in 
Mexico.  Membership  in  the  association  is  held  by  more 
than  600  banks,  industrial  and  commercial  institutions 
in  the  United  States.  San  Francisco  will  be  asked  to  fall 
in  line,  Maj.  MacDonnell  says,  in  upholding  Congress 
and  the  administration  in  whatever  policy  is  mandatory 
for  the  correction  of  present  intolerable  conditions. 

"'The  placid  indifference  with  which  killing  of  more 
than  300  American  citizens  in  Mexico  within  the  last  few 
years  is  regarded,'  says  Maj.  MacDonnell,  'to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  attempted  confiscation  of  American  property 
[280] 


APPENDIX  II 


worth  more  than  a  billion  dollars,  would  appear  to  in- 
dicate the  need  for  somebody  to  assume  the  leadership  in 
arousing  the  torpid  public  conscience. 

"  'Our  association,  for  which  I  am  seeking  the  support 
of  San  Francisco,  was  formed  to  arouse,  organize,  and 
lead  public  sentiment  which  would  support  Congress  and 
the  administration  in  taking,  without  further  delay, 
whatever  steps  may  be  necessary  to  secure  protection  for 
the  lives  and  property  of  American  citizens  wherever  they 
may  be  and  to  compel  that  respect  for  the  American  flag 
which  has  been  so  conspicuously  lacking  in  Mexico  for 
the  greater  part  of  80  years. 

"'We  did  not  hesitate  to  take  energetic  steps  for  the 
protection  of  American  citizens  in  China  in  the  Boxer 
rebellion  of  1900.  We  recognized  the  right  and  duty 
of  a  government  to  protect  its  citizens  temporarily  re- 
siding in  foreign  lands,  when  Italy  demanded  and  re- 
ceived, without  demur  on  our  part,  reparation  for  the 
lynching  of  some  of  its  citizens  in  New  Orleans.  In- 
deed, the  duty  of  a  government  to  protect  its  citizens 
wherever  they  may  be  seems  to  be  fully  understood  every- 
where but  in  America  today.  That  is  the  purpose  for 
which  governments  are  created. 

"  'The  Mexican  situation  concerns  not  alone  those  who 
have  invested  large  sums  in  Mexico,  nor  the  survivors  of 
thousands  of  colonists  who  have  lost  everything  they  pos- 
sessed and  whose  families  have  been  murdered.  It  is  a 
matter  which  vitally  interests  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  America. 

"  'Mexico  is  the  haven  or  refuge  to  which  the  I.  W.  W. 
were  sent  to  be  tortured  by  German  propagandists.  The 
product  of  this  joint  labour  of  anarchy  and  kultur  was 
[281] 


APPENDIX  II 


Bolshevism,  which  was  first  put  into  effect  in  Mexico  in 
all  its  details,  even  to  public  ownership  of  women  and 
corruption  of  children.  The  truth  is  that  there  is  no  or- 
ganized government  in  Mexico.  Carranza  is  merely  the 
nominal  head  of  a  movement  and  does  not  even  control 
his  own  so-called  government.  The  control  rests  in  the 
hands  of  military  chieftains  who  acknowledge  no  al- 
legiance to  Carranza,  except  that  which  is  gained  through 
being  provided  with  money.  Only  one-half  of  1  per 
cent,  of  the  people  of  Mexico  are  responsible  for  the 
crimes  that  are  committed  there. 

"  'Chaos  is  the  only  word  which  describes  the  situation 
when  we  attempt  to  view  it  as  a  whole.  Under  such 
conditions  is  it  not  imperative  that  America  should  be 
aroused  to  the  menace  of  the  southern  border?  Those 
who  originated  the  National  Association  for  the  Protec- 
tion of  American  Rights  in  Mexico  thought  so.  And  no 
violent  protests  against  its  aims  and  activities  have 
emanated  from  Washington.' " 

To  offset  that  call  to  arms  by  a  soldier  who  has  not 
been  in  Mexico,  Dr.  Inman,  a  teacher  knowing  the  coun- 
try well,  said : 

"The  officers  of  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches,  the 
Chicago  Federal  Council  of  Churches,  the  missionary 
boards,  the  missionaries  themselves  in  Mexico,  and  so  far 
as  I  know  the  Christian  leaders  all  over  the  United  States, 
are  entirely  opposed  to  armed  intervention.  I  have  sub- 
mitted certain  editorials  from  the  religious  press  to  sub- 
stantiate that  statement. 

"I  do  not  care  to  create  the  impression  at  all,  if  it 
were  possible,  that  things  are  all  right  in  Mexico  today; 
[282] 


APPENDIX  II 


but  I  would  like  for  all  of  us  to  realize  that  after  a  period 
of  revolution  every  country  has  had  in  its  history  a  period 
of  reconstruction,  and  that  Mexico  today  is  striving  with 
the  same  problems  largely  that  we  strove  with  in  the  time 
following  the  Civil  War  and  the  difficulties  of  catching 
Villa,  for  example,  are  similar  to  the  difficulties  we  found 
in  suppressing  banditry,  the  James  boys  and  others  in 
the  western  part  of  the  United  States ;  and  that  conditions 
are  gradually  growing  better;  indeed,  more  rapidly  than 
most  of  us  in  the  United  States  have  any  idea  of. 

"As  to  Mr.  Carranza,  who  is  largely  the  bone  of  con- 
tention here,  I  believe  that  Mr.  Carranza  is  an  honest  and 
capable  man.  I  recognize  his  faults.  He  is  ultra-inter- 
nationalistic.  He  is  very  sensitive  and  the  attacks  of  the 
American  press  on  Mr.  Carranza  have  caused  him  to  be 
exceedingly  sensitive  as  to  what  has  been  said  about  him 
here.  He  has  been  called  a  thief  and  a  liar  and  a  robber 
and  everything  that  certain  parts  of  the  American  press 
could  invent. 

"That  has  made  Mr.  Carranza  naturally  very  resent- 
ful. I  knew  him  as  a  neighbour  in  the  State  of  Coahuila 
when  I  was  director  of  the  People's  Institute  there  several 
years  ago.  Knowing  him  as  a  neighbour,  I  formed  a 
high  opinion  of  him  as  a  man,  and  his  belief  in  a  demo- 
cratic form  of  government.  I  believe  that  he  is  not  anti- 
American,  for  he  has  done  too  much  for  American 
schools;  he  has  employed  too  many  of  the  young  men 
who  have  been  educated  in  American  institutions;  he 
has  sent  too  many  teachers  and  students  to  the  United 
States,  and  he  has  had  friendship  with  too  many  Ameri- 
can people  in  Mexico  for  me  to  believe  that  he  is  anti- 
[283] 


APPENDIX  II 


American.  I  believe  that  he  is  very  much  pro -Mexican. 
He  is  trying  to  work  out  a  policy  of  Mexico  for  the 
Mexicans." 

Bishop  Cannon,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  work  of  his  church  both 
in  Mexico  and  among  the  Mexicans  on  the  American 
side  of  the  border  told  of  improved  material  and  spir- 
itual conditions  during  his  last  visit  to  Mexico,  saying: 
"I  think,  perhaps,  we  have  had  more  accessions  to  the 
church  this  year,  the  old  missionaries  tell  me,  than  they 
have  had  for  many  years."  He  continued: 

"As  an  illustration,  I  went  in  at  Eagle  Pass  about  the 
1st  of  August  in  an  automobile,  a  Ford  car,  and  drove 
through  the  interior  of  the  country.  I  was  very  much 
amused  to  read  something  some  gentleman  had  written, 
who  seems  to  be  a  German — Altendorf,  I  think  his  name 
was — in  which  he  said  it  was  not  safe  for  anybody  to  go 
down  there,  that  they  would  be  murdered.  I  went  out  in 
that  car  with  a  Mexican  driver  and  a  missionary  and 
rode  into  the  interior  of  the  State  of  Coahuila,  after  dark, 
after  10  o'clock  at  night.  I  remember  I  stopped  at  Al- 
lende.  I  found  the  Mexican  people  there  sufficiently 
prosperous  to  put  down  $6,000  if  our  missionaries  would 
put  down  $6,000  to  build  a  new  church,  to  cost  $12,000 
in  a  town  of  about  10,000,  which  I  didn't  think  was  very 
bad,  even  for  the  United  States.  Over  in  Saltillo  a  man 
came  from  Turan,  which  was  either  in  Nuevo  Leon  or 
Tamaulipas,  and  said,  'If  you  will  put  down  $3,500,  we 
will  buy  the  lot  and  put  in  $3,500  to  build  the  church.' 

"Now,  those  are  straws,  but  they  are  the  straws  that 
come  my  way. 

"We  believe,  gentleman  of  the  committee,  that  the  best 
[284] 


APPENDIX  II 


solution  for  Mexico  would  be  the  largest  possible  amount 
of  sympathy  for  them,  the  bearing  with  their  mistakes, 
remembering  that  she  has  about  70  per  cent,  illiterate 
people  who  can  not  read  a  newspaper  for  themselves, 
and  are  dependent  on  other  people  to  tell  them  what  is 
going  on  in  the  world,  and  who  are  easily  influenced  by 
these  things,  and  to  realize  that  they  have  been  and  are 
under  a  tremendous  handicap." 

Dr.  George  B.  Winton,  another  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Mexico  of  the  League  of  Free  Nations  Associa- 
tion, also  gave  a  favourable  picture  of  the  Mexico  of  to- 
day, although  careful  to  show  that  recovery  from  the  ef- 
fects of  the  revolution  was  not  complete.  In  his  clos- 
ing statement,  Dr.  Winton  said: 

"I  might  say  just  one  word,  Mr.  Chairman,  before  I 
leave  the  stand.  In  deprecation  of  misunderstandings 
among  those  of  us  who  are  interested  in  Mexico,  you  will 
find  among  other  things  that  I  have  written  phrases  that 
seem  to  point  in  the  direction  of  a  charge  that  there  are 
persons  interested  in  promoting  intervention,  and  that 
they  are  active.  What  I  wish  to  say  in  regard  to  that 
is  that  the  weakening  of  the  hands  of  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment in  the  present  juncture  by  painting  very  gloomy 
and  exaggerated  pictures  of  social  and  economic  condi- 
tions in  Mexico,  creates  the  impression  in  the  mind  of 
the  average  man  that  the  only  way  it  can  be  remedied  is 
by  armed  intervention.  That  is  how  it  arises  that  some- 
limes  the  phrase  is  used  that  those  who  speak  and  write 
against  Carranza  are  speaking  and  writing  in  favour  of 
intervention.  It  is  not  a  charge  that  they  are  intending 
to  do  that,  necessarily;  it  is  simply  qualifying  the  out- 
come of  their  work.  I  am  obliged  to  say  that  I  have  had 
[285] 


APPENDIX  II 


a  good  deal  of  experience  in  that  line,  and  I  am  afraid 
that  is  the  tendency  of  it." 

James  G.  McDonald,  chairman  of  the  League  of  Free 
Nations  Association,  and  of  its  Committee  on  Mexico, 
gave  a  brief  survey  of  the  activities  of  the  Association 
regarding  Mexico,  which  set  forth  that: 

"The  immediate  program  is,  first,  syndicating  gratis 
daily  and  Sunday  feature  material  to  the  press  through- 
out the  country,  presenting  fact  statements  of  actual  con- 
ditions in  Mexico. 

"Second,  co-operating  with  societies  throughout  the 
country  interested  in  justice  for  Mexico. 

"Third,  preparing  for  a  Mexican  conference  in  New 
York  City,  and  urging  the  holding  of  similar  conferences 
elsewhere. 

"Fourth,  arranging,  in  co-operation  with  other  socie- 
ties, for  a  mass  meeting  at  Madison  Square  Garden. 

"Fifth,  acting  as  a  medium  for  the  creation  of  a  com- 
mission of  five  or  six  nationally  known  and  representa- 
tive Americans,  to  investigate  and  report  on  actual  con- 
ditions in  Mexico. 

"Sixth,  studying  the  situation  from  every  angle,  with 
a  view  to  aiding  in  the  formulation  of  a  Mexican  policy, 
at  once  economically  sound  and  socially  justifiable." 

Mr.  McDonald  suggested  the  names  of  a  number  of 
gentlemen  prepared  to  give  first  hand  information  re- 
garding Mexico,  offered  to  supply  the  committee  with 
an  auditor's  statement  showing  receipts  and  expenditures 
with  the  names  of  all  contributors  since  the  formation  of 
the  Committee  on  Mexico,  and  suggested  that  a  similar 
auditor's  statement  be  required  from  the  National  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Protection  of  American  Rights  in  Mexico. 
[286] 


APPENDIX  II 


Another  witness  was  the  author  of  this  book.  I  was 
asked  if  I  received  money  for  my  services  from  Mr.  Car- 
ranza,  although  the  chairman  had  in  his  possession  when 
putting  the  question  an  affidavit  in  which  I  had  disclosed 
the  sources  of  my  income  and  the  nature  of  my  employ- 
ment for  a  ten  year  period,  and  stated  that  I  was  still 
a  confidential  employe  of  the  United  States  Government 
on  indefinite  leave  of  absence. 

I  then  read  a  memo  of  which  part  is  quoted: 

I  am  a  member  of  the  Mexican  Committee  of  the  League  of 
Free  Nations  Association  and  of  the  association  itself,  and  have 
been  chiefly  responsible  for  the  activities  of  the  committee  in  its 
attempt  to  reply  to  the  propaganda  favouring  an  intervention  in 
Mexico. 

Having  been  threatened  with  a  libel  suit  by  the  Association  of 
Oil  Producers  in  Mexico  in  their  letter  published  in  the  Nation, 
I  have  avoided  any  specific  mention  of  the  oil  interests  by  name. 
The  Nation  of  July  26,  1919,  page  108— 

THE  SECRETARY.    What  is  that  reference,  please? 

MR.  DE  BEKKER.  The  Nation,  of  July  26,  1919,  page  108.  But 
assuming  that  the  statements  made  before  the  committee  are 
privileged — I  am  right  in  that,  am  I  not,  Senator? 

THE  CHAIRMAN.    If  you  desire  to  claim  privilege;  yes,  sir. 

MR.  DE  BEKKER.    I  do  desire  to  claim  privilege. 

I  give  the  list  of  the  oil  interests  concerned,  which  Mr.  Mc- 
Donald our  chairman,  did  not  have  in  his  possession  when  testify- 
ing before  the  committee:  California  Petroleum  Co.,  Continental 
Mexican  Petroleum  Co.,  Freeport  &  Mexican  Fuel  Oil  Corporation, 
Huasteca  Petroleum  Co.,  Mexican  Gulf  Oil  Co.,  Mexican  Petro- 
leum Co.  (Ltd.),  of  Delaware,  Mexican  Petroleum  Corporation, 
National  Oil  Co.,  Pan-American  Petroleum  &  Trading  Co., 
Panuco-Boston  Oil  Co.,  Port  Lobos  Petroleum  Co.,  Snowden  & 
McSweeny,  Southern  Oil  &  Transport  Corporation,  Standard  Oil 
Co.  of  New  Jersey,  Tamiahua  Oil  Co.,  The  Texas  Co.,  Tuxpam 
Petroleum  Co.,  Union  Oil  Co.  of  California,  Union  Petroleum  Co. 
Among  the  most  active  individual  propagandists  are  Edward  L. 
Doheny,  leader  of  the  entire  group  of  oil  interests  operating  in 
Mexico;  I.  Jewell  Williams,  a  Philadelphia  lawyer,  who  is  also 
president  of  the  Boston-Panuco  Oil  Co.;  and  Burton  W.  Wilson, 
a  New  York  lawyer  in  the  employ  of  the  Standard  Oil  Co.,  or 
those  of  its  subsidiary  corporations  operating  in  Mexico.  Charles 
Hudson  Boynton,  at  one  time  superintendent  of  the  Associated 
Press  in  Washington,  is  the  press  agent  for  this  group.  The  list 

[287] 


APPENDIX  II 


is  probably  not  complete,  but  Mr.  Boynton  can  give  a  complete 
list  of  the  Association  of  Oil  Producers  in  Mexico,  of  which  he 
is  also  press  agent.  All  of  the  corporations  above  named  are 
members  of  the  National  Association  for  the  Protection  of  Ameri- 
can Rights  in  Mexico,  of  which  Mr.  Boynton  is  "executive  direc- 
tor" (which  may  be  interpreted  press  agent),  with  offices  at  347 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York;  Frank  J.  Silsbee  is  styled  secretary  of 
the  National  Association  for  the  Protection  of  American  Rights  in 
Mexico,  and  in  the  absence  of  these  persons  the  office  appears  to 
be  in  charge  of  Harry  W.  Berbie. 

I  then  suggested  that  C.  H.  Boynton,  Agnes  C.  Laut, 
and  William  Gates  might  throw  additional  light  on  the 
propaganda  of  the  oil  companies  for  an  intervention  in 
Mexico,  offered  various  instances  of  specific  propaganda, 
including  the  Altendorf  letters  issued  by  the  National  As- 
sociation for  the  Protection  of  American  Rights  in  Mex- 
ico, the  "atrocity"  stories  of  Miss  Laut  and  her  picture 
fake  in  the  Independent,  the  fake  map  of  Mexico  in  va- 
rious newspapers,  and  other  proof  of  a  circumstantial 
nature  pointing  to  a  plot  to  intervene.  The  following 
colloquy  occurred  toward  the  close  of  my  testimony: 

Senator  BRANDEGEE.  Give  me  circumstances  that  caused  you 
to  believe  there  is  a  plot  in  this  country  to  force  armed  interven- 
tion in  Mexico. 

Mr.  DE  BEKKER.  I  would  say  for  one  thing,  Senator  Fall's 
presence  as  head  of  this  committee,  as  shown  in  my  letter  to  him. 

Senator  BRANDEGEE.     One  minute.     Who  put  up  that  plot? 

Mr.  DE  BEKKER.    I  am  sure  I  do  not  know  who  did  that. 

Senator  BRANDECEE.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  because  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  of  the  United 
States  Senate  appointed  Senator  Fall  chairman  of  this  committee, 
that  is  evidence  of  a  plot  to  force  armed  intervention  in  Mexico? 

Mr.  DE  BEKNER.  That,  I  would  say,  is  strong  circumstantial 
evidence. 

Senator  BRANDEGEE.  That  is  what  you  call  strong  circumstan- 
tial evidence? 

The  CHAIRMAN.  You  claimed  immunity  in  your  testimony.  If 
you  read  that,  you  read  it  without  any  immunity.  You  are  not 
going  to  read  that  into  this  record. 

Mr.  DE  BEKKER.    I  see  I  am  not. 

[288] 


APPENDIX  II 


The  letter  referred  to  was  in  the  form  of  an  affidavit, 
and  Senator  Fall  had  repeatedly  refused  to  admit  it  to 
the  record,  possibly  because  it  contained  pointed  refer- 
ences to  the  Senator's  notorious  hatred  of  Mexico  and 
Mr.  Carranza. 

Miss  Laut,  for  whom  Senator  Fall  at  once  called  the 
first  and  only  night  session  of  his  committee,  and  who 
had  represented  herself  while  in  Mexico  to  be  the  cor- 
respondent of  the  Saturday  Evening  Post,  told  how  she 
met  some  members  of  the  National  Association  for  the 
Protection  of  American  Rights  in  Mexico,  and  was  asked 
if  she  would  make  a  report  on  economic  conditions  to 
various  members  of  the  Association. 

Senator  BRANDEGEE.  That  is  the  Association  for  the  Protection 
of  American  Rights  in  Mexico? 

Miss  LAUT.  Yes,  sir.  I  was  asked  to  make  that  report,  be- 
cause, after  all,  the  stability  of  a  country  depends  on  human 
conditions,  and  that  is  what  I  wanted  to  get.  I  agreed  to  do  that. 
Shall  I  go  right  on  with  my  visit  to  Mexico? 

The  CHAIRMAN.  Yes.  But  first,  how  were  your  expenses  paid 
down  there,  if  any  one  paid  them? 

Miss  LAUT.  That  brought  up  a  very  fine  point.  I  agreed  that 
I  would  make  them  a  report  if  they  would  pay  such  expenses  that 
would  make  it  possible  for  me  to  take  a  constant  companion,  be- 
cause I  saw  an  international  scrap  coming,  and  I  know  the  danger 
of  blackmail  in  those  international  scraps,  and  I  always  take  with 
me  on  those  trips  a  married  sister  or  an  unmarried  sister.  I 
always  go  on  such  long  trips,  purely  as  a  protection  from  mis- 
representation, with  a  sister.  They  agreed,  not  the  protective 
association,  because  it  was  not  fully  formed,  but  they  agreed  per- 
sonally that  the  expenses  of  that  trip  would  be  sufficiently  covered 
to  take  along  a  companion  to  cover  blackmail  protection. 

Miss  Laut  testified  that  her  present  job  was  linking  up 
the  financial  interests  with  the  churches,  to  help  Mexico, 
and  said  that  a  single  article  she  wrote  brought  in  $40,000 
in  contributions. 

[289] 


APPENDIX  II 


The  CHAIRMAN.  By  what  organization  of  ministers  or  churches 
was  that  money  paid? 

Miss  LAUT.  Senator,  it  rather  scares  me  to  say  that  the  money 
was  paid  to  me  personally;  that  the  only  way  that  I  could  keep 
free  of  any  charge  that  I  had  handled  that  money  through  a  per- 
sonal account,  I  immediately  indorsed  it  over  to  the  head  of  the 
Latin-American  Church  Bureau. 

The  CHAIRMAN.    Who  was  that? 

Miss  LAUT.  May  I  give  you  that  name  in  executive  session  or 
shall  I  do  it  now?  I  will  give  it  to  you  now.  Dr.  Teeter.  The 
witnesses  so  far  know  so  little  of  what  the  churches  are  actually 
doing  that  they  do  not  know  that  the  big  church  movement  is 
under  way  in  Mexico  now  and  the  members  of  the  movement  are 
in  Mexico  now  working  on  that. 

Miss  Laut  was  indignant  at  the  thought  that  she  or  any 
of  her  associates  favoured  an  intervention  in  Mexico, 
saying : 

"We  are  told  in  the  Bible  that  we  must  bear  the  in- 
firmities of  the  weak.  It  seems  to  me  the  same  Good 
Book  says  that  you  shall  not  bear  false  witness  against 
your  neighbour.  At  the  very  time  that  the  charge  was 
made  that  the  oil  interests  were  financing  intervention, 
the  oil  interests  had  put  up  $40,000  to  help  the  church 
campaign,  the  union  of  Protestant  and  Catholic  churches, 
to  place  before  the  American  public  the  necessity  of 
helping  Mexico." 

Her  view  of  how  not  to  intervene  was  expressed  as 
follows: 

Senator  BRANDECEE.  What  effect  would  it  have  in  Mexico  if 
this  Government  did  intervene,  with  an  army  announcing  that  it 
came  to  establish  order  and  stop  the  banditry  and  to  help  them 
to  help  themselves  to  set  up  some  form  of  government  of  their 
own,  that  they  were  not  going  to  stay  there  or  annex  their  terri- 
tory or  anything  of  that  kind?  Have  you  any  means  of  forming 
an  opinion  as  to  how  that  proposition  would  be  received  by  the 
people  of  Mexico? 

Miss  LAUT.  Well,  I  have  been  told  by  their  own  leaders  that 
if  such  a  beneficent  pacification  were  undertaken  and  followed  by 
thousands  of  cars  of  food  that  a  hurdle  16  feet  high  would  not 

[290] 


APPENDIX  II 


stop  the  population  coming  en  masse  behind  and  supporting  the 
movement. 

Senator  BRANDEGEE.  Well,  I  have  heard  both  sides.  I  have 
heard  people  state  both  opinions.  I  see  that  some  of  the  military 
chiefs  of  Mexico  state  that  any  attempt  by  this  country  to  send 
troops  there  and  establish  order  would  combine  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  Mexico  against  us,  that  the  Carranzistas  and  all  the  bandits 
would  immediately  make  common  cause  against  the  invader.  I 
wondered  whether  you  were  able  to  form  an  opinion  about  the 
probabilities  of  that? 

Miss  LAUT.  I  think  it  is  pretty  largely  politics  for  home  con- 
sumption. 

Senator  BRANDEGEE.  It  seems  to  me  now — I  do  not  know  how 
you  look  at  it — but  it  seems  to  me  no  financial  interests  in  this 
country  can  back  up  such  an  angel  down  there  and  endow  him 
with  the  necessary  funds  to  help  this  armed  movement  without 
being  charged  with  fomenting  a  revolution  in  a  foreign  state  with 
which  we  are  at  peace,  and  our  Government  certainly  could  not 
do  it  as  a  government  without  laying  itself  liable  to  the  same 
charge. 

Miss  LAUT.  But,  Mr.  Senator,  we  are  not  at  peace.  We  don't 
keep  a  border  control  at  a  cost  of  $150,000,000  if  we  are  at 
peace. 

Senator  BRANDEGEE.    But  we  have  not  declared  war  on  them. 

Miss  LAUT.  I  know,  but  the  peace  is  not  there.  We  are  simply 
fooling  ourselves,  bluffing  ourselves. 

Charles  Hudson  Boynton,  press  agent  for  various  pe- 
troleum associations,  and  "executive  director"  of  the  Na- 
tional Association  for  the  Protection  of  American  Rights 
in  Mexico  filed  articles  issued  by  the  National  Associa- 
tion for  the  Protection  of  American  Rights  in  Mexico, 
including  atrocity  stories,  which  occupy  a  special  place 
of  honour  in  Part  2  of  the  printed  record,  pages  438  to 
468,  but  without  including  the  monthly  bulletin  of  his 
organization,  nor  the  mimeographed  sheets  issued  to  the 
Washington  correspondents  by  his  branch  bureau  there. 

Senator  BRANDEGEE.  We  have  asked  the  other  representatives 
of  these  other  associations  that  have  appeared  before  us  what  their 
salaries  were;  that  is,  the  publicity  men,  so  to  speak.  What  is 
your  salary? 

Mr.  BOYNTON.    $20,000  a  year. 

[291] 


APPENDIX  II 


Mr.  William  Gates  was  permitted  to  read  into  the  rec- 
ord his  correspondence  with  Secretary  Baker,  but 
has  not  testified  since  the  U.  S.  State  Department  for- 
warded to  Chairman  Campbell,  of  the  House  Committee 
on  Rules,  the  letter  accrediting  him  to  Mr.  Campbell 
from  the  bandit  Amezcua,  then  in  Havana.  The  death  of 
Amezcua  has  subsequently  been  reported  from  Mexico 
City.  He  had  attempted  to  return  to  Mexico  to  assist 
in  revolutionary  schemes. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  Protestant  Missions  operated 
from  the  United  States  are  keenly  opposing  the  proposed 
intervention,  many  of  the  witnesses  appearing  before  the 
Fall  committee  being  identified  with  these  organizations. 
The  Catholic  opposition  is  now  being  voiced  in  an  influ- 
ential section  of  that  church's  press.  The  Committee  on 
Mexico  therefore  should  call  especial  attention  to  the 
eloquent  and  pathetic  appeal  issued  from  Chicago,  April 
4,  by  three  Mexican  Archbishops,  then  in  exile,  now  in 
Mexico,  thanks  to  a  reconciliation  effected  by  Mgr. 
Burke: 

The  late  war  has  spread  desolation  and  destruction 
over  large  areas  of  the  earth:  has  shaken  our  social  fab- 
ric to  its  foundations :  has  left  in  a  maimed,  starving,  and 
plague-stricken  condition  multitudes  of  our  fellow-men: 
and  has  filled  the  world  with  the  lamentations  of  the  be- 
reaved and  the  suffering.  As  the  common  father  of  man- 
kind and  as  the  custodian  of  the  Christian  world,  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  has  appealed  to  us  all  in  the  name  of 
God  and  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  not  merely  to  bind 
up  the  wounds  of  our  civilization,  but,  through  steadfast 
advocacy  of  justice  to  all  peoples,  also  to  point  the  way 
to  permanent  peace  and  goodwill.  Even  while  we  in 
[292] 


APPENDIX  II 


love  and  charity  labour  to  fulfil  this  duty  which  Chris- 
tianity imposes  upon  us  and  which  the  Holy  Father  so 
eloquently  requires  of  us,  there  are  others  who  fan  old 
fears,  and  rekindle  oJd  hates.  A  small,  selfish,  but  very 
powerful  minority  still  pervert  and  obscure  the  interests 
of  the  plain  people.  The  rights  of  the  weakest  continue 
to  be  sacrificed  to  the  interests  of  the  strongest. 

In  Mexico,  anarchy  is  abetted  by  a  few  aliens;  and 
our  people  are  angered  by  unwarranted  foreign  interfer- 
ence in  their  domestic  concerns,  an  indignity  which  a 
proud  and  sovereign  race  cannot  lightly  endure.  The 
purpose  of  these  activities  is  made  plain  by  a  press 
which  is  filled  with  the  threats  and  portents  of  a  new 
war,  the  work  of  a  small  group  of  heartless  or  thought- 
less men  against  our  own  well-beloved  people  of  Mexico. 

We,  the  undersigned  bishops  of  Mexico,  sustained  in 
our  exile  by  our  faith  and  trust  in  God  and  by  k»ve  of 
our  country,  share  the  hopes  and  tribulations  of  our 
people.  We  rejoice  in  their  gladness,  and  grieve  over 
their  sorrows.  And  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  our 
blessed  Lord  and  Master,  Jesus  Christ,  in  conformity 
with  the  behest  of  His  Vicar,  our  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and 
dominated  by  our  ever  vigilant  solicitude  for  the  safety 
and  well-being  of  those  committed  to  our  care,  we  are 
impelled  to  appeal  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  to  the  citizens  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico  to  be  pa- 
tient and  forbearing  the  one  with  the  other,  lest  the 
amity  which  just  men  desire  to  preserve  and  to  foster 
should  be  disrupted  by  the  machinations  of  the  evil  forces 
that  are  now  arrayed  against  it.  We  desire  that  wise 
counsel  should  displace  all  thoughts  of  violence  in  the 
consideration  of  such  differences  as  exist,  or  as  may  be 
[293] 


APPENDIX  II 


created,  between  our  dear  land  of  Mexico  and  the  land 
of  our  refuge.  Between  lands  linked  in  a  common  des- 
tiny by  nature  and  by  sentiment,  free  lands  intended  by 
God  to  help  each  other  in  harmony,  mutual  confidence, 
and  disinterested  friendship,  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  high 
purposes  for  which  He  has  created  them — peace,  the 
peace  of  God  and  the  Church,  should  prevail. 

We,  as  representatives  of  the  Church  which  has  under 
our  leadership  and  in  our  persons  suffered  persecution 
at  the  hands  of  the  Mexican  Government,  appeal  in  our 
anguish  especially  to  all  who  are  bearing  burdens  un- 
fairly placed  upon  them  by  the  Mexican  authorities. 
Before  those  who  are  burdened,  we  would  give  testimony 
of  our  abiding  faith  in  the  essential  justice  of  the  Mexi- 
can people,  and  our  unalterable  trust  in  the  ultimate  tri- 
umph of  all  just  causes  placed  before  the  tribunal  of  our 
people.  We,  homeless  shepherds  whose  folds  are 
wrecked  and  ruined,  and  whose  flocks  are  scattered  and 
sorely  beset;  we  who  are  bound  in  conscience  to  abate  no 
effort  till  the  trust  be  fulfilled  that  God  gave  to  our  care; 
we  urge  mutual  patience  and  forbearance,  for  our  trust 
in  the  Mexican  people  is  absolute.  And  proclaiming  that 
trust  before  men,  shall  we  appeal  in  vain  to  the  fair- 
minded  moulders  of  American  opinion  that  they  refrain 
from  thoughts  of  violence  and  instruct  their  public  in  the 
ways  of  charity,  and  of  peace  settlement  of  all  diffi- 
culties? We  appeal  especially  to  th'ose  in  the  United 
States  who  in  good  faith  have  made  our  cause  their  own, 
reminding  them  that  the  temples  of  God  are  the  hearts 
of  His  people  and  that  the  mission  of  His  Church  is  to 
create  peace  and  good  will  among  men.  The  principle 
on  which  our  Church  is  founded  will  insure  a  peace  of 
[294] 


APPENDIX  II 


justice,  for  the  capacity  of  the  Mexican  people  to  respond 
to  the  mission  of  the  Church  is  limited  only  by  the  arti- 
ficial and  temporary  barriers  which  restrict  our  func- 
tions. Finally  we  appeal  to  the  faithful  in  the  United 
States  and  in  Mexico  to  join  us  in  our  prayers  that  God 
may  be  pleased  speedily  to  remove  all  occasions  of  mis- 
understanding between  these  two  sovereign  states  so  that 
the  American  and  the  Mexican  peoples,  each  preserving 
its  own  sovereignty,  may  dwell  together  in  perfect  peace 
now  and  for  ever. 

FRANCIS  PLANCARTE 

Archbishop  of  Linares 
LEOPOLD  Ruiz 

Archbishop  of  Michoacan 
FRANCIS  OROZCO  Y  JIMENEZ 

Archbishop  of  Guadalajara 


[295] 


